Pokemon Drama Island
by DarkReconz
Summary: Latias and Latios invite 34 Pokemon to an island to battle it out for 100,000 Pokedollars and a lifetime supply of treats. Hold on to your butts, cause this is gonna get really crazy really fast!
1. Welcome to Camp!

**Hello all TDI and Pokemon fans, I am pleased to announce a brand new story of mine, Pokemon Drama Island!**

**Inspired by Dark Amphithere's Total Pokemon Island, I have decided to make one my own. Everything Dark Amphithere used in his story belongs to him, except for the things that didn't belong to him. Confusing logic is confusing. I have gotten his permission to use some items and challenges almost everyone uses like Awake-a-thons, though he did specifically tell me what I couldn't use without permission.**

**Back on topic, 34 Pokemon will be competing from all regions, including the newly released Unova region so yes; readers will find Generation 5 Pokemon in this, which I will use a bit of since no one has yet.**

**Let's see, anything else? Nope just the disclaimer which is right below here. V**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Total Drama Franchise nor Pokemon and the Nintendo Franchise. I do own the personalities of each character used in this story and anything original that I think of and a sandwh-never mind my sister ate it.**

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><p>*static*<p>

"Hi there!" Shouted a red and white jet-looking Pokemon. "Welcome to Total Pokemon Island! I'm your host Latias! And over here is my brother co-host, Latios!" Next to her was Pokemon that looked similar to Latias, only he had an angry scowl instead of a smile and he was colored blue, not red.

He was grumbling, "I still can't believe that they chose you to be host, didn't you tell them you are-mmmph!" He was cut off when Latias put a hand over his mouth, shutting him up.

"Anyways, let's get down to business! We have 34 lucky Pokemon, 2 of each type, coming to this not-so lovely island to take part in a competition for, wait for it, 100,000 Pokedollars and a lifetime supply of famous treats from every single region; Casteliacones, Old Gateaus, Lava Cookies, you name them we have them. Before claiming this prize, our contestants will have to endure various challenges and competitions between each other. After every challenge, winners will be invincible from the vote, while one camper will be voted off and forced to walk our Dock of Losers and leave the competition. This is gonna be fun right bro?"

"Yeah, you float there and tell these campers what to do, when I have to cook meals and do chores." Latios responded sourly.

Latias stared at him, "Well I have to create the challenges don't I?"

"No." He answered. "The producers tell you what the challenge will be and then you look it up in that book they gave you and have me do all the work for it. Then you just tell the contestants what they're doing and then you float off to the side, sipping iced tea and lemonade that I serve you!"

"Well sorry that they wanted a pretty face instead of your ugly mug."

"Our faces are almost exactly the same!"

The host and co-host continued to argue, ignoring the first contestant who had arrived on a Lapras. He was medium-sized with white fur, a cat-like face, black claws, tail and horn which was crescent shaped and holding his belongings. He looked at the two arguing legendaries and without speaking a word, walked toward the end of the dock and laid down to rest.

Another contestant soon arrived on the back of a blue Gastrodon. He lazily got off the Pokemon and walked toward the hosts, he was orange except for a small bit of green on his hump which he had balanced a small suitcase on. His round lazy eyes looked at the hosts who were still arguing and decided that it would be the best if he ignored them.

A third Pokemon came, though he didn't arrive on another Pokemon since he was able to swim. He was brown Pokemon with yellow fins and resembled a flounder. Two gray lips sat in between his oval eyes. He flopped on over to where the other two Pokemon were with his luggage that he carried by the tail, also ignoring the hosts' feud.

Another competitor arrived who also swam to the dock. She was small, blue and round with two antennas that had yellow lights on the ends. She saw the two feuding hosts and tried to get their attention by flashing her yellow eyes and lights but they ignored her, so she bounced on over to the end of the dock, suitcase at hand.

The fifth contest walked onto the dock and to the hosts after getting off a Dewgong. This Pokemon had a small brown body but it also had two identical heads which were connected to its body by a long black neck. "Hey!" one of the heads shouted.

It got no response.

"Hey!" the other head shouted.

There was still no response.

"HEY!" both of the heads shouted in unison.

This got Latias's attention. She turned toward the Pokemon and looked surprised, "Oh, so sorry about that! I didn't notice that you have arrived! Well, if it's not too late, welcome to the Island Doduo!"

"See, told ya my voice would get their attention." said one head.

The other shook it's head, "No, it was totally my shout that got them to notice us."

"No it was my voice!" shouted the first head.

"No it wasn't!"

"Was too!"

"Was not!"

This continued until the both of Doduo's heads started to peck each other, which wasn't smart since they shared the same body and could feel each other's pain.

"Ow! Ouch! Quit it! Hey, no biting!"

Latias stared at them with confusion, "If you two are done fighting with, uh, yourself, go stand over to the end of the dock where-." She stopped mid-sentence when she realized four other Pokemon had already arrived beforehand.

"Wha, when, how, who are you guys?" Latias was dumfounded. How could they have arrived without her noticing them?

The flounder responded first, "I'm Stunfisk, got here after those two." He pointed a lazy fin at the small orange Pokemon and the black and white Pokemon. "I decided to ignore you and you're boyfriend fighting cause it be too much of a bother."

"He's not my boyfriend! He's my brother!" Shouted Latias

"Right, and I can't swim." Retorted Stunfisk.

Latias was about to say something until Latios put a hand on her, "Temper, temper." He chided, Latias huffed in response.

The black and white Pokemon turned his head which had been looking out toward the sea, "I'm Absol, I got here first. I don't like associating myself with others so I walked away from your little argument." He then turned his head back to its original position.

The orange Pokemon spoke next after he yawned, "Mmm, I'm Numel…got here after Absol. I was feeling tired so I didn't greet you guys. Now that I've done my introduction, I'm going to go take a nap." He closed eyes and snores could be heard from his mouth.

The last Pokemon flashed its lights to Latias who immediately recognized the camper, "Oh, you must be Chinchou, your application did say that you couldn't talk. How are you?"

Chinchou smiled and flashed its light a couple times, Latias looked confused, "Um I don't understand. Could you do that again?"

Chinchou flashed its lights a second time; Latias looked even more confused, "Can someone help me here?"

"BZZT, IDENTIFYING SOURCE AND REASON OF REQUEST." Said a voice behind Latais who turned around to find the source of the new voice.

Behind her were 3 other Pokemon, one had a triangular shape, consisting of three separate bodies with an eye on each body as well as two magnets and screws on each body, except for the middle one which had a third screw coming from the top of its head. Behind it was medium-sized green Pokemon whose head was mostly white, had two flowers for hands and a green cape on her back. Behind her, was a large green Pokemon that looked like a snake. It had a curling pattern on his side and what seemed to be a collar by his head.

"Magneton, Roserade, Serperior, welcome! When did you guys get here?" Asked Latias.

Latios answered her question, "While you were talking to the other contestants."

Latias nodded, "So Magneton, you said that-."

"BZZT, SOURCE IDENTIFIED." Interrupted Magneton, which surprised Latias. " SOURCE IS LATIAS, THE EON POKEMON. REASON IDENTIFIED. REASON IS MUTE CHINCHOU, THE ANGLER POKEMON. CHINCHOU IS USING MORSE CODE. SEARCHING FOR MORSE CODE CHART." It paused. "CHART FOUND, ATTEMPTING TO TRANSLATE." It waited as Chinchou replayed its series of flashes. "TRANSLATION FINISHED, UPLOADING TRANSLATION." Its voice changed into a more monotone voice. "I Am Doing Fine. Thank You For Asking. BZZT."

There was silence. Latias then broke it, "Well, seems that you two will become fast friends." She turned toward the other two Pokemon. "Roserade, good to have you here, same to you Serperior."

"Thanks." Roserade said as she walked over and stood by Doduo.

Serperior looked at the other Pokemon and put on a smug smile, "Heh, this shouldn't be too hard." He said as he slithered toward Stunfisk.

Clanging sounds were heard as a Wailmer came by carrying two passengers. One was a white medium sized Pokemon with red markings and sharp claws. The other looked like a knight with a red and black body and blades on its arms. The two continued to fight even as the Wailmer docked. Only Latios's psychic power was able to split the two apart.

"Zangoose, Bisharp, fighting already?" Latias asked.

Zangoose replied first, "Not my fault." She said. "If he didn't keep hitting me with his arms, this wouldn't have happened."

"How many times have I told you, that's because I was stretching and told you to move away from me. You just refused to move." Bisharp replied.

"Don't lecture me metalhead." Snapped Zangoose, "Just keep your arms way from me." She walked over the end of the dock and stood by a sleeping Numel.

"Believe me, I intend to do so." Bisharp muttered under his breath as he walked on over to stand by Magneton.

Shortly, a Samurott came with a passenger standing on its horn. It was standing on one foot, its face shaped like a jackal. His hands had a spike on the back with a third one on his chest. When he arrived, he hopped off the Samurott and walked over and stood near Chinchou after introducing himself as Lucario to the host and co-host.

Two grey gears arrived next on a Bibarel, both of them were smiling. "Hi, were Klink and were best pals." Said one of the gears.

"We can't be physically separated so don't bother pulling us apart." Chimed the other.

"Aww that's nice, best buddy gears. Don't you think that's nice Latios?" Latias asked her brother.

Latios grumbled in response.

"Don't worry about him, he's not always this grumpy, run along now, we have more people coming." Latias said.

As Klink floated over next to Zangoose, an Empoleon was swimming to the dock at breakneck speed. It stopped when it got to the dock and it climbed on.

Latias was puzzled, "Umm, I'm sure you didn't sign up for this competition Empoleon."

"Yeah, I know." He responded. "This guy did." Pointing to his trident horn, a small, shiny grey Pokemon was happily munching away on the water and steel type. Some Pokemon chuckled at the sight.

"Nom nom nom nom nom." It was saying as it continued to chomp away.

Empoleon sighed, "Mind getting him off?"

Latias motioned toward Latios who sighed as he used his psychic powers to remove the little Pokemon.

"Hey wait! I wasn't done eating!" it said as it was dropped onto the dock.

"Sorry kid, go on now Empoleon." Latias said as Empoleon left. "So what's your name?" She asked.

"I'm Aron and I love to chew on metal!" He said enthusiastically. At the sound of this, Klink and Magneton moved away while Lucario and Bisharp put on concerned faces.

Soon enough, a large snowflake, a Cryogonal, floated towards the dock and stopped near the hosts.

Unsure of what was happening, Latias came over. He saw her and said, "Wait, let me just bask in the sun's rays for a little bit."

Latias nodded, allowing him to do so. Cryogonal just floated there for a while but then he suddenly adjusted his angle and fired a ray of light toward the contestants. Some of them freaked but Latios was quick enough to use his psychic powers to redirect the light to the campground which created a large smoking crater.

"Cryogonal!" Latias shouted. "No attacking the contestants!"

"Aww, I was just going to thin out the competition." He said in fake concerned voice. He then began to chuckle darkly as he went to the end of dock, distancing himself from the other contestants which were giving him angry glares, though he didn't seem to mind.

The next Pokemon that arrived was a small deer with a flower pattern.

"H-hi, I'm Deerling." She said with a small, weak voice.

"Hi there, well, welcome!" Latias said.

A loud "thunk" was heard behind them. Most people turned to look, only to see a small, oddly shaped rock.

"Oh, it's just a rock, though it was something important." Said Latias as she turned away.

"I wouldn't be so sure" Said a new voice.

Deerling slowly turned her head. She saw a purple and green vortex with a menacing smile on its face. She screamed, "AAAAAAHHHHHHH!" and ran behind Serperior , cowering in fear.

"Grahahaha! Classic." Said the new arrival who was a Spiritomb.

Latias looked at him with distaste, "Don't go scaring people too much alright Spiritomb? Deerling is easily scared."

"I-it's true." Deerling responded, still a bit shaken.

After Spiritomb bounced over, Sawk and Blitzle arrived. After they exchanged greetings with the host, Sawk went to stand by Lucario and Blitzle stood by Deerling. Blitzile gave her a little smile which Deerling looked away shyly from.

The next contestant that arrived was red and yellow with a flame on its tail and duck bill. "Hey, I'm Magmar." It said.

Latias seemed confused, "Okay, but you're a bit early."

"Really? Because Blastoise said- ." Magmar's form immediately changed into a black and red fox-like Pokemon. "-I was supposed to get here earlier."

Latias was surprised, what was in front of her wasn't Magmar, instead it was Zoroark.

"I did not see that one coming." Latias said.

"Yeah, but I did." Said a new voice. Latias turned around and saw the real Magmar. She let out a quick huff. "Why did you choose me to transform into?" She asked Zoroark.

"Because, I didn't know who had already arrived but I saw you on your Jellicent as we arrived here so I thought, why not?" He responded.

Magmar let out a quick "Hmph" before joining the other contestants.

The next Pokemon to arrive slowly floated down from the sky. When she touched the dock, she folded her wings which made her body seem like a cloud.

"Welcome Altaria." Said Latias, "It's nice to finally have a fellow dragon type here."

Altaria smiled, "Thanks." She said and walked to the other contestants.

A Spinarak arrived next on a Slowpoke and greeted the hosts cheerfully before it went to wait by Spiritomb.

A medium tan cat Pokemon with a red jewel on its forehead arrived next. Latias greeted her with a smile, "Welcome Persian, it's nice to see you."

"It's nice to see you too commoner. I would have you call me 'majesty' but since you're the host, I'll let it slide." Persian responded. This statement offended Latias quite a bit. Persian looked over toward the other campers, "All of you over there, don't forget to shower me with praise you hear? Unlike most of you, I don't come from a shabby background."

"Talk about narcissistic." Said Sawk to Lucario who calmly responded with a nod.

"Now is there some who can take my bags for me, I don't want to break a nail-." She stopped mid sentence when she noticed Absol. She began to walk over to him and purred, "Hello, handsome." She said to him.

Absol turned his head to look at her, and then looked away without saying a word. Persian was shocked.

Some laughed at her predicament but the next contestant had caught their attentions.

A green haired beauty with slender eyes and body walked onto the dock, her long white dress flowing in the wind.

She smiled as she approached the host, "Hello." She said in a calming voice. "I'm Gardevoir."

Latias smiled, "It's nice to have you here, I'm sure you'll be popular among the viewers."

Garedvoir smiled back and walked over toward the other contestants. Persian was scowling at her.

The next Pokemon to arrive were Espeon and Rotom. Rotom cast a curious eye at Latios and floated next to Cryogonal, though he seemed to be chuckling. Espeon walked over to where Absol was and sat next to him.

"Back off, he's mine." Persian said to Espeon aggressively.

"Really? If he's with you, then why is he ignoring you?" Espeon calmly asked smiling at the tan cat.

Persian didn't say anything in response but the next contestant made her grimace.

"Ew, look at that ugly thing." She said. Espeon turned her head. Talking to Latias was a small brown fish, a Feebas.

"She might be a nice person on the inside." Espeon responded. "Unlike you."

Persian's scowl grew deeper.

Feebas hopped over to the other contestants, settling herself next to Serperior.

The next Pokemon that arrived was Pineco, he hopped over to Latias who was looking at the other Pokemon at the end of the dock.

"Oy! Host-chick! Down here!" He rudely shouted.

Latias turned her head to Pineco, "Hi Pineco, welcome to-"

"Yeah, save it for later ginger, I don't got all day you know." He bounced off to the group of contestants, some of them giving him a disapproving glare.

Latias was so shocked that she didn't hear the next contestants arrive. Latios had to tap her on the shoulder to get her to snap out of her trance, "Sis, two more Pokemon are here."

She regained her composure and moved her arm left and right. However, she accidentally hit one of the contestants who flew towards Magneton, hitting him.

"BZZT. DAMAGE RECEIVED. SCANNING EXTERIOR FOR DAMAGES." He said as the flying object hit the ground. It was a red shell with many holes in it. Four small tentacles came out of the bottom hole while a fifth one popped out of the top. "Ugh, what happened? I was in my shell and then I hit something hard. Where am I?" she asked.

Latias flew over, "You okay? I'm so sorry. Anyways, you're on Pokemon Drama Island. I assume you're Shuckle?"

"Yes."The slightly dizzy Pokemon said. "Where's the other guy?"

"Other guy?" asked Latias.

"On your back." Answered Latios.

Latias tilted her head, sure enough there was a small yellow spider with blue eyes staring at her with a happy face. "Hi I'm Joltik!"

Silence. "KYYYYYYAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Latias screamed. She disliked bugs, especially when they crawled on her.

"Get it off get it off get it off!" She was flying around in a panic.

"Sorry, I get nervous when I'm not holding onto someone!" Yelled Joltik, who was holding for his dear little life.

"Then can you please get off of me? I'm getting dizzy!"

"If you slow down, maybe!"

"Not gonna happen! Latios, HELP!"

Unfortunately, he couldn't as the two of the last four Pokemon arrived, a Lampent and Kingdra. While Lampent floated away to be next to Rotom, Latios was striking up a friendly conversation with Kingrda.

"Kingdra, no offense but, you look kinda old." Latios told the large seahorse.

"None taken." Kingdra replied. "The reason why I look so old though is because I spend too much time in my library reading books than going outside and swim in the ocean."

"So you're a regular bookworm?" Latios asked.

"I prefer the term philosopher, but yes, I am a bit of a bookworm." He noticed the small commotion going on nearby. "I say, are you sure you're not going to stop that? She is your sister after all."

Latios shrugged, "Eh, I think I'll let her be like that for a few minutes, she needs a little exercise."

Kingdra nodded, "I see."

He went on over to the other end of the dock as the second to last contestant arrived, a Sigilyph. As it floated down, it seemed that his three eyes were transfixed onto something.

"Hello?" asked Latios. He got no response. "Earth to Sigilyph." He continued. No reaction. Latios then waved his hands back and forth in front of Sigilyphs face. This time, he got a response.

Sigilyph was blinking, "Woah, sorry there, I was having some weird vision just now. Didn't mean to ignore you." He told Latios.

Latios nodded, "It's fine, mind calming down my sister though? She has a bug Pokemon on her back and she's deathly afraid of them."

Sigilyph nodded, "I'll see what I can do." He closed his eyes and concentrated. When he opened them, he released a small burst of psychic energy which separated Joltik and Latias, but Joltik flew towards Shuckle, who ducked, causing Joltik to latch onto Pineco.

"Hey kid, bugger off!" Shouted Pineco.

"Sorry!" Joltik said and he jumped onto Altaria "Am I bothering you?" he asked her.

Altaria smiled, "Not at all." She replied.

Latias was panting, "I hate bugs." She said.

"I find that comment a little rude." Said Spinarak.

Latios shrugged, "She's always been scared of bugs after she-" He was cut off after Latias put a hand over his mouth.

"Don't ever mention that to them." She growled.

Latias turned back toward the rest of the Pokemon with a smile on her face, "Alright, let's get prepared to meet our last camper who is arriving right now!"

As soon as she said that, a large purple shell was dropped onto the dock by a Walrein. A faint mumbling could be heard from inside the shell.

Latias motioned for Walrein to come over, "Um, Warein, what's with him?"

Walrein shrugged, "Don't know ma'am. He was fine when I picked him up. Then while we coming over, he clammed up and then he started that mumbling. Anyway, gotta go, running late." And with that, Warien left.

Latias looked toward the shell, "Look Cloyster, come on out we know you're in th-"

"I'VE GOT THE PERFECT PLAN!" the newcomer said as he opened his shell, interrupting Latias.

"I'll spike their foods so that they can't participate in challenges, allowing me to win each one, and win! It's perfect!" He said and cackled like a madman. Then he realized he had arrived at the island and all the other Pokemon were frowning at him. "Oh, uh, seems that I arrived. " He looked a bit sheepish, "By any chance did one of you not hear what I said?" The other Pokemon shook their head left and right. "Didn't think so." He said.

He bounced over to the other end of the dock and settled himself next to Kingdra.

Latias clapped her hands, "Now that you're all here, let's move to the center of camp and I'll explain all the details that weren't provided in the application. Latios, grab all of their stuff if you be so kind?"

Latios grumbled and reluctantly used his psychic power to pick up the campers' luggage.

Once everyone reached the center of camp, Latias spoke, "All of you will be divided into two teams. Team A, also known as the Legendary Lugias and Team B, known as the Honorable Ho-ohs." She took out a list.

"Our Lugias are, Bisharp, Lucario, Blitzle, Gardevoir, Kingdra, Roserade, Zoroark, Joltik, Lampent, Rotom, Magmar, Sigilyph, Shuckle, Stunfisk, Espeon, Klink and Spinarak."

"The rest of you, meaning Deerling, Zangoose, Serperior, Feebas, Absol, Persian, Numel, Cryogonal, Cloyster, Spiritomb, Pineco, Altaria, Sawk, Doduo, Magneton, Aron, and Chinchou, will be Ho-ohs."

Latias gestured behind her "Cabins are behind me, one for each team and boys will get one side, females the other. All of you are between 16 and 18 so we'll leave you unsupervised but we don't want any shenanigans either so the cabins aren't coed. Also, don't destroy the cabins, especially you Cryogonal."

"Hey, I do what I want, no need to listen to you." He responded.

"Fine." Latias said. "As long as you find the materials and repair it yourself without anyone's help, then go ahead."

That shut him up.

Latias continued "Alright, grab your stuff since we are going to have our first challenge real soon. Meet me here in 15 minutes and I'll bring you to the challenge site."

***Static***

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**Latias: *floating inside a round, metallic room* This is our restroom confessional, where you can say what's on your mind, tell us about something, gives us dirt on other players or rant for however long you want. We might show what you say in here, we might not, depends on if it is interesting or not.**

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**Sigilyph: *Stares at the camera ***

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**Joltik: I don't know if I'm gonna use this place often, I don't like being alone.**

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**Cryogonal: Grrr, Latias told me not to destroy this place either. Is there nothing I can obliterate on this island?**

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**Numel: *Sleeping on the wall* Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…**

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**Aron: *Happily chewing on the wall* Nom nom nom nom nom. Man the steel in this room is delicious! Wonder what the iron to copper ratio is.**

***Voice outside*: Aron, no eating the walls! Do I have to make you rebuild this confessional?**

**Aron: *stops munching and spits out some metal* No ma'am!**

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At the center of camp, Latias waited until all of the campers arrived "Ok, are we all set?" She asked. Her question was returned with a couple of nods. "Alright then, follow me!"

"Yay, our first challenge, I'm so excited." Said a sarcastic Stunfisk.

"Oh it can't be that bad." Said a floating Rotom. "They probably won't have something too hard for our first challenge."

"You've got a point." said Lampent as she floated nearby. "Maybe something like building a small shack or an obstacle course."

As they continued to walk, they went up a fairly steep hill. When they finally arrived at the top, they were greeted with nothing except for a cross Latios.

Latias turned around to look at the campers, "Alright we're here at the top of a thousand foot cliff, the location of your first challenge, which I like to call 'The Great Leap Downward'!"

Some of the Pokemon stared, especially Sigilyph. What could their first challenge exactly be?

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><p>Whew, done!<p>

Must say, it took me more time to plan this chapter than actually write it with all of the Pokemon to choose, their personalities, order of arrival, teams, etc.

Please review, doesn't matter what you say be it a prediction, favorite or least favorite characters, tips, or favorite moments. Positive reviews are greatly appreciated.

What else to say…what else to say…oh, I know! Put your favorite phrase or line in this chapter in your review and I might just put it up for everyone to see in the next chapter.

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><p><strong>Next Time:<strong> The campers face their first jaw-dropping challenge while tensions arise and the losing team is forced to choose a member to be sent home.


	2. The Leap of Faith!

**Alright, second chapter! Woo!**

**Thankfully, I'm on break so I have more time to work on this story, though once school starts, might not have as much free time so expect delays.**

**One thing to note, when Doduo is in the confessional, I'll put Doduo 1 or Doduo 2 to show that the different heads are speaking.**

**From time to time, I might slip in some references to Dark Ampithere's fanfics. I've spoken about it to him and he's allowed me to do so, as long as I credit him. I plan on crediting him every chapter, even if I don't reference his stories because he's that awesome.**

**Anyways, on to the story! After the disclaimer of course…**

**Posted in the last chapter, but I'll add a little something to it…**

**Disclaimer: Anything Dark Ampithere owns, he owns. Don't question it.**

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><p>"Alright, as you all know, this challenge is called 'The Great Leap Downward'." Latias said. "In this challenge, you'll have to jump down from this cliff-. "<p>

"Jump down from this cliff? Are you crazy? You'll kill us you nutter!" Shouted Pineco.

"Now, now, let me finish, after jumping down the cliff, you're going to-"

"Die." Finished Stunfisk. "We're going to die."

Contestants began to freak out.

"Calm down guys, you're not gonna die, just listen to me." Latias said.

The contestants were still freaking out, while Latias tried to calm them down.

During all of this, Latios pulled up a lawn chair and a pitcher of lemonade. Sitting down, he put on some sunglasses and poured himself a glass of lemonade while watching his sister try to ease the contestants' anxieties.

"I don't want to die!"

"You're not going to die! If you would just listen to me-"

"I thought this was a reality show, not a murder house."

"It is not! This IS a reality TV show let me-"

"Didn't think my life would end here and like this…"

"Just listen to me for one second …"

Latios noticed his sister's temper rising. He took out a megaphone and pressed a button. A loud screech filled the area. This got everyone's attention. He then held it to his mouth and spoke into it, "If you would all kindly look over the cliff, we would like to show you what's there. Don't worry; we're not going to push you off. Cryogonal, I see you charging another solarbeam. Don't even think about it or I'll throw it back at you."

At this, everyone looked at Cryogonal who was charging up a solarbeam like Latios said. He stopped and glared at the co-host, mumbling "party popper" under his breath.

The other contestants walked over to the cliff. Latias just stared at her brother, "Where'd you get that megaphone?"

"Regigigas." Latios answered. "He's got a ton of these things lying around. I heard he ate one in a bet during college. Some of the parts got caught on his vocal chords though. "

"So that's why his voice is so loud sometimes." Latias realized. "Mind getting me one?" she asked.

Latios shrugged, "Maybe, I was planning on meeting with him after we finished the show though."

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**Latios: As much as I don't like my sister, there's this one side of her you don't really want to see. I don't want to say she's bipolar, but after a certain point, she'll snap. And when she snaps, it's not pretty.  
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**Latias: *seen with a scowl on her face* Ugh, these brats annoy me so much. If they would let finish a freakin' sentence, I would be fine. But nooooo, it's all about them, they don't care about the host. And then there's the fact that I have to keep a smiling face in front of them. I don't know how much I can take!*scratches the walls in frustration.***

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**Doduo 1: *Heads look around at the walls* Has Persian been in here?**

**Doduo 2: Nah I say it was Aron; Latias was telling him to get out earlier.**

**Doduo 1: Still Aron doesn't have claws, or fingers for that matter.**

**Doduo 2: I still say it was Aron.**

**Doduo 1: Stubborn prick.**

**Doduo 2: What was that? Don't make me poke your eyes out.**

**Doduo 1: Bring it idiot! *Heads start to fight once again***

**000  
><strong>

By this time, most of the contestants were looking over the edge and realized at the bottom, there was a large pool.

Latias sighed, "Now that you know that there's a pool at the bottom, let me explain your first challenge. You are jump into that pool of water from up here. If you land inside it, you get your team a point. If you land outside of it, you still get a point for jumping but you'll end up with severe injuries and be brought to our resident nurse, Audino. So basically, if you touch the water, you're safe and you help your team. Any questions now?"

A couple of hands raised.

Latias sighed, "If they involve you getting injured, please put your hands down."

All hands went down.

Latias looked around, "Alright, now that there are no questions, Ho-ohs, you guys go first."

There was silence, "I'll go first." Serperior said.

"You sure?" Asked Feebas.

Serperior nodded, "Yeah, besides, there's no way I'd hit the ground." He slithered over to the cliff, coiled up, and sprang over the edge.

They waited, and heard a splash. He made it into the water. The members of the team sighed in relief.

"I'll go next." Feebas said.

She jumped and landed in the water as well.

Chinchou, Spiritomb, Doduo, Absol, Zangoose and Sawk all went next. Cloyster followed soon after, jumping down while cackling madly. Magneton went next, floating down, with Cryogonal and Altaria floating into the pool right after. Deerling was too scared and didn't jump. Aron jumped next, though he was more interested in the metal wall of the pool. Before he could get a bite, Magneton pulled him out of the pool with one of his magnets thanks to Zangoose's advice. Only Numel, Persian and Pineco were left.

"Do you think we can win this?" Feebas asked.

Serperior smiled confidently, "I think we can. Pineco will definitely jump, not sure about Numel, depends on if he is awake. It's also very possible that Persian will jump. Besides, I doubt the other team will have enough people jump."

"Why's that?" Asked Altaria.

"Magmar, Lampent and Joltik." Serperior responded. "Magmar and Lampent for the obvious reason that they're fire types and hate water. Joltik hates being alone and since he has to jump alone, he probably won't do it and feel safer up there where there're people." He looked back up the cliff. "Now to see if Numel and Persian will jump."

At the top of the cliff Pineco was trying to push a sleeping Numel, though he wasn't making any progress, "Grrrrrr...this guy ain't moving an inch! Hey you boiler!" He shouted at Persian. "Help me move this snoozing rock!"

Persian looked at him, "Sorry, I don't want to hurt myself, or damage my complexion in any way."

"Fine, then at least jump down you tart!" Pineco shouted.

"Um…I'll pass." She said. "I don't want to get my perfectly groomed fur wet and I hate water."

**000**

**Persian: When my fur gets wet, it puffs up and I look like a Mareep. All my hard work grooming myself, wasted in just mere seconds. I hate it.**

**000  
><strong>

Pineco was pushing Numel as hard as he could. He neared the edge but he slipped, causing him to fall off the cliff and into the water.

"Bugger! Almost had that sleeping buffoon!" He shouted. He then saw his team staring at him, "What do you blokes want?

"We just want to know if our last two team members are coming down." Said Spiritomb.

Pineco scowled, "Miss priss isn't coming anytime soon, she's afraid of a smidge of water. She wouldn't even help me push the tired chap, who's asleep so he's not going to do anything."

Serperior frowned, he had forgotten how cats hated water, but he then remembered the other team also had a cat on it, which caused him to regain his smile.

Back on top of the cliff, Latias looked around, "Is that it?" She asked. She got no response. "Alright then, only 14 people jumped for the Ho-Ohs. Lugias, beat that and you win yourselves invincibility from tonight's vote. Who wants to go?"

Bisharp raised a hand, "I'll go." He said.

**000**

**Bisharp: By volunteering to do this challenge first, I'll gain some recognition and respect from my team, some of the first things that are needed in order to become a successful leader.**

**000  
><strong>

He dived in, with Blitzle, Roserade, Gardevoir, Lucario, Stunfisk, Kingdra, and Zoroark following after him. Shuckle went next but she didn't jump far enough. When she realized she didn't go far enough, she ducked inside her shell, which hit the ground hard. When she popped out, she looked fine, but she claimed to be a bit "winded" after having her life flash before her eyes. Sigilyph, Klink and Rotom floated down next. Spinarak shot some string out of her mouth which latched onto side of the pool of water. With a Tarzan-esque shout, she jumped and was able to swing into the water. To some competitors' surprise, Espeon jumped down and when she emerged, her fur was perfectly fine.

**000**

**Persian: *scoffs* Show off.**

**000  
><strong>

**Espeon: My trick? I coated myself in a thin membrane of psychic energy so no water would get on me.**

**000  
><strong>

There were only three people left on the Lugias; Joltik, Magmar and Lampent, just as Serperior predicted.

Latias looked around, there were three people on each team that hadn't jumped, "Alright, since both teams are tied, the next person that jumps wins their team invincibility. Any takers?" She asked.

There was silence, the six Pokemon weren't moving.

Magmar crossed her arms, "I am not jumping in." She said flatly.

"Same here." Chimed in Persian.

Deerling was quivering, "W-well, I'm just s-s-scared. What if I d-don't hit the w-water? I'm going to g-get hurt."

Joltik was climbing around a sleeping Numel's body, "I can't do it unless someone goes with me." He said.

Lampent was debating on if she should go or not, then she remembered Latias's words when she explained the challenge. She raised her hand, "I'll do it." She said.

Her team cheered.

**000**

**Rotom: She's brave, I like that. Not bad looking either, for an inanimate object. Then again, I possess inanimate objects, so it works out anyway.**

**000  
><strong>

**Zoroark: *He breathes a sigh of relief* Looks like the first challenge is ours.**

**000  
><strong>

She floated off the cliff and was nearing the water. When she got close to the surface, she stopped and floated there. She then dipped her hand into the water and pulled it out.

"Hey!" She shouted toward Latias. "Does that count?"

Latias then began to talk with her brother. She looked back down, "We'll allow it." She said. "Therefore, the Lugias are the winners of this challenge!"

While the Lugias cheered, the Ho-Ohs began to complain.

"That's bull! How does that count?"

That's not fair, how could you allow that?"

Latias flew towards the complaining contestants, "Well the rules were that if you touched the water, you'd get your team a point. Since Lampent touched the water, she got a point for her team. All she did was find and exploit a loophole in the rules, something any of you could have done. Any objections?"

The contestants objections turned into low grumbles, though they were still bitter about the loss.

"Alright then Ho-Ohs, I'll be seeing you guys at elimination tonight. You'll vote in the confessional by saying who you will vote for. Once you do that, wait until after sunset and meet me at the campfire pit where the elimination will take place. You can cast your votes anytime before elimination so talk about amongst yourselves and I will see you all later."

And with that, Latias left.

Silence. "So, what now?" Asked Doduo.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm gonna go eat. Anyone want to come?" Spiritomb asked.

Cryogonal and Cloyster followed him to the mess hall.

The rest of the campers went their separate ways.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, the Lugias were having a small party in their cabin.<p>

"Alright, we've won the first challenge! Let's celebrate!" Shouted Blitzle.

"Yeah!" Everyone cheered.

Lampent and Rotom were chatting, Sigilyph was staring out the window, Spinarak and Joltik were playing on a web in the corner of the room, Stunfisk looked bored, Lucario was meditating, Kingdra was next to him reading a book, Espeon, Roserade and Gardevoir were chatting, while Klink, Magmar, Shuckle, and Bisharp were enjoying the party. The only contestant not in the cabin was Zoroark. He was standing outside gazing toward the sea.

Gardevoir noticed this and walked outside, standing next to him, "Hey." She said.

Zoroark looked at her before turning his head back, "Hey." He responded.

"Why don't you come on in, everyone else is having fun." Gardevoir offered.

"By everyone, are you including Sigilyph and Stunfisk? Cause I'm pretty sure Stunfisk is bored out of his mind and Sigilyph is just doing what he normally does." He teased

"You know I meant that."

"Yeah, I know. Thanks for the offer but I think I'm going to be out here for a while. I need to reorganize my thoughts. Could you possibly close the door behind you when you go back in?"

Gardevoir seemed disappointed, "Alright." She said and walked back inside the cabin, closing the door behind her.

Zoroark stood out there for a while. He seemed to be deep in thought.

He then turned to go into the cabin. He opened the door to see a slightly surprised Bisharp, "Oh, sorry about that." Zoroark said.

"It's fine." Returned Bisharp.

As soon as the two crossed paths, Bisharp began to whisper something in Zoroark's ear, "Meet me on the beach by the dock after the next challenge."

Zoroark glanced over, "What do you want?" He whispered.

Bisharp continued to whisper, "I just wanted to talk to you about something; there will be others there as well."

Zoroark's gaze darkened, he wasn't very sure why Bisharp would come to him, but he had nothing to lose, "Fine." He whispered. "I'll meet you there."

Bisharp nodded, "Good." And with that he walked outside.

**000**

**Zoroark: I'm not sure I can trust him, I mean, he did volunteer to go first during the challenge, which does help, but I'm still not sure. Either way, I really want to win this competition. The reason? I won't say yet, though I might later if I get the time.**

**000  
><strong>

**Bisharp: *He was smirking* I got Zoroark, Lucario and Kingdra to meet with me after the next challenge. I have some ideas I would like to share with them.**

**000**

* * *

><p>While the Lugias were partying, a couple campers from the Ho-Ohs had gotten together to discuss who to eliminate.<p>

"Alright, who are we gonna vote for tonight?" Asked Serperior.

Zangoose spoke first, "I say the three people that didn't jump and maybe Pineco."

"Why Pineco?" asked Feebas.

"They guy's just flat out rude." Answered Zangoose. "He also doesn't appreciate anything we do. I tried to help him and he just started to yell at me in his dumb Scottish accent."

"Okay, that's one person, what about the three that were still left at the top?" Altaria asked.

"If you ask me, I would also vote for either Persian or Numel." Sawk said. "Deerling is just a bit timid and not very confident. She could be useful later on however, we just need to help her gain some confidence. Numel can prove to be a hindrance, he's asleep half the time, not very usefull."

"Yeah but remember, we'll have to face off against someone in the finals right, might as well choose someone who isn't very strong." Reasoned Serperior.

"BZZT. PROCESSING ALL INFORMATION ON ELIMINATION CANDIDATES." Magneton said. "PROCESSING COMPLETE. LOGICAL CHOICES FOR ELIMINATION ARE AS FOLLOWS: PERSIAN, NUMEL AND PINECO. BZZT."

"I'm going to vote Persian. She's very stuck up and rarely helps out." Zangoose said with disdain.

"I'd wait a couple more episodes, see if she's useful, then vote her out if she isn't." Serperior reasoned.

"Okay, so it's between Numel and Pineco." Sawk said

"I would rather keep Numel than Pineco, Numel might surprise us and will be easy to beat if we end up fighting against him in the final two." Serperior reasoned.

"It would be in all of your best interest if you vote out Pineco." Said Spiritomb who bounced over with Cryogonal and Cloyster, who's eye was twitching.

"BZZT. EXPLAIN YOUR LOGIC. BZZT." Magneton said.

"I HAVE CACKLES!" laughed Cloyster, causing a couple campers to jump. "You don't know? Pineco has been ranting about all of you in the confessional."

"It's true." Said Cryogonal. "When we passed by the confessional we heard him. I was gonna hit that English runt with a solarbeam but he," motioning toward Spiritomb, "stopped me."

"What did he say?" Asked Feebas

"I didn't hear all of it. His accent was thick but I did hear 'Curse my bloody ill luck on getting stuck with these barmy blokes!'" Spiritomb said.

"What does that mean?" Asked Altaria.

"BZZT. TRANSLATING SLANG." Magneton said. "TRANSLATION FINISHED." His voice turned into an angry Irishman. "My luck sucks, I am stuck with a bunch of idiotic people. BZZT."

"So he thinks of us that way? He's going down." Said Zangoose angrily, puncher her hand

The other contestants there nodded in agreement.

**000**

**Spiritomb: *chuckling* Heh, Pineco was in the confessional alright, for about 5 seconds. I, Cryogonal and Cloyster got the idea that we should form an alliance in order to get rid of the competition. I chose Cryogonal cause he's powerful and Cloyster is smart. They have flaws though which I would really like to change, but for now, I just have to make sure Cloyster keeps his mouth shut about future schemes and Cryogonal doesn't go crazy with his destruction. Why did I choose Pineco? He has no use and his constant insults are annoying.**

**000  
><strong>

**Cloyster: I HAVE BRILLIANCE! I'll freeze everyone here into ice sculptures! Then, I'll throw them into the freezer. That way, they can't participate in any challenges and I'll win! It's foolproof!**

**Spiritomb: *outside* Cloyster, be quiet in there. You don't want your schemes revealed again right?**

**Cloyster: *slightly downtrodden* Yes boss. *begins to smile devilishly with one eye twitching*.**

**000**

* * *

><p>It was nighttime and all of the Lugias were at the campfire pit, each one of them was sitting on a stump. A small fire was crackling as Latios and Latias arrived. Latios was holding a poffin case while Latias was holding a small card.<p>

"Okay, time for the first elimination of the season." Latias said. "Here's how everything goes. If I call your name, you're safe and you'll come up to Latios who will hand you a poffin depending on your favorite flavor. Whoever doesn't get a poffin will be booted out of the competition and forced to leave the island."

"Our first Poffin goes to…Feebas." Feebas bounced off her seat and got a blue poffin from Latios.

"Serperior, Absol, Altaria, Spritomb and Zangoose, you're all safe." The five Pokemon relaxed as they went up to get their poffins.

"Sawk, Cryogonal, Magneton, Aron and Chinchou, you five are also safe for tonight." As those five Pokemon went to get their poffins, the tension began to rise.

"Doduo, and Cloyster, you two are also safe." Cloyster rose and went to get his poffin, though he seemed a bit twitchy. Doduo's heads began to fight over who got the poffin, forcing Latios to give them another one.

"So, the final four." Latias said. "Deerling, Pineco, Persian, Numel. Three of you didn't jump off the cliff, while the other has anger issues. One of you is on the chopping block while the other three are safe for tonight."

Deerling looked nervous, Persian tensed up, Pineco was scowling, while Numel was fast asleep.

"The two of you that are safe are…Deerling and Persian." Deerling let out a sigh of relief while Persian relaxed and went to get her poffin.

"Pineco, Numel, one of you will be leaving us tonight. Pineco, your bad temper and constant insults have offended a large amount of contestants here, including me. Numel, you're here because you were asleep the whole challenge."

Pineco's brow furrowed, how could he have been in the bottom two? He actually jumped off the cliff, unlike sleeping beauty next to him. He even tried to push him into the water!

"The Pokemon who will have another chance at the prize is…

…

…

…

…

…

…

"Numel."

The numb Pokemon didn't move however as he was asleep. Pineco however, had risen out of his seat and was giving a few choice words.

"What in the bloody name of Arceus is this blasphemy? You chose the sleeping fool over me? At least I jumped in the bloody challenge!"

"Yeah but we don't like how rudely you've been treating us." Zangoose said.

"Y-you are quite m-mean." Said Deerling.

"I couldn't agree more." Said Spiritomb.

The bagworm Pokemon was infuriated, "Well fine, I'm leaving. You guys are a bunch of mad sprogs!" And with that, he left to get his belongings.

**000**

**Pineco: I don't bloody believe it! I was the first one voted off this crummy island! What the hell! I guess I was right, my team is mental. I was thinking about being nice to them but you blokes know what? I'm not. They can bugger off for all I care. Anyone I want to win? Hardly! I barely know anyone on this show! Seems my time is up. Time for me to leave this barmy show.**

**000  
><strong>

No one saw Pineco off as he left as most of the team had left to go to sleep. Cryogonal, Spiritomb and Cloyster however, were plotting.

"Who do you think we should go for next?" asked Cryogonal.

"No, we need to add to our ranks first. I'm thinking we should ask Persian, she'll fit in well here." Spiritomb said.

Cloyster chuckled, "Alright, I'll ask her. I'll make sure that she doesn't refuse the offer."

Spiritomb nodded, "Fine, we're counting on you. Team Eclipse will cast a dark shadow over the competition."

* * *

><p>And we're done! Second chapter, first elimination and first alliance!<p>

Yeah, Pineco left, not too sad about it. If he stayed, his character would have gotten really dry and repetitive.

We've got our first alliance with the psycho shell, destructive snowflake and creepy vortex and what could Bisharp want from Zoroark and the others? Only time, or the next chapter, can tell.

After every chapter, I'm going to put a fun fact about an eliminated character, if I have one. I'll also probably have them do a review request as well.

Fun Fact: Every time Pineco got angry, he was originally going to blow up, but I decided against that idea as it seemed boring. Instead, I made him short tempered and speak in British slang, kinda like an angry leprechaun. See if you can find the slang terms, besides bloody.

Also, try to find references to anything in here. If you do post them in the reviews and they are correct, I'll give you an imaginary cookie per find.

Pineco: Hey you bloody blokes! Review or bugger off!

* * *

><p><strong>Next time: The contestants get geared up for a race which finishes with a surprise. Deals are made between campers, while another person is forced to leave the competition.<strong>


	3. Three Paths to a Finish

**Okay, third chapter, doing well so far. Though I admit, I feel like I could probably do better.**

**I'm actually making this story as I go; I have some ideas planned, though there are a large amount of gaps. Ugh.**

**As you noticed, I've been pumping out chapters quickly. That's because I'm still on break so expect a slowdown after this chapter.**

**I've already put all the disclaimers I need at the moment so I won't put another. Props goes out to Dark Ampithere for awesome stories as usual and letting me use some stuff.**

****Well, onto the story.**  
><strong>

* * *

><p>"Wake up campers!" Blared Latias's voice over the intercom. "You guys have a challenge this morning! You'll want to get up early cause this challenge will take all day!"<p>

Most of the campers trudged out of their cabins looking weary and met up with Latias at the center of camp. It had been a week since the previous challenge and Doduo's heads were squawking at each other endlessly as they walked out of their cabin.

"See, I told you we had a challenge today!"

"Yeah, but you also said we would have a challenge yesterday!"

"I was off by one day, big whoop!"

"Not one day; every day since the last challenge, you've said that there would be a challenge. You just got lucky today, that's all."

"Why do you have to be so pessimistic?"

"Why do you have to be so annoying?"

"Can it you two before I tie your necks into a knot!" Shouted Zangoose.

**000**

**Zangoose: Dear Arceus, those two have been at each other's necks since day one. Literally! Their endless shouting and fights is getting me annoyed, stressed, and causing me to lose sleep. I think most of my teammates would agree that they are nothing but nuisances.**

**000  
><strong>

**Spiritomb: Now I actually regret voting off Pineco. Doduo's fighting and Early Bird ability has caused me to lose so much sleep. At least Pineco wouldn't rant at four in the morning.**

**000  
><strong>

**Cloyster: Those two will be off this island faster than soapy butter sliding on a Teflon coated metal slide! *left eye twitches***

**000  
><strong>

After Doduo had been silenced by Zangoose knocking their heads together, Latias did a quick head count, "Okay, 1, 2, 3, 4…31, 32…hey, seems we're missing a person."

The campers looked around, Lampent then raised her hand, "It's Rotom, he's not here."

Klink, who had Joltik scrambling around him, chimed in, "Now that you mention it, he wasn't in his bed."

"Where could he be?" Asked Latias.

In the kitchen, Latios had just returned from taking out the trash, grumbling. He had to prepare lunch, not his favorite job. He went to open the fridge and was blasted by freezing cold air. What he didn't notice was the fridge was floating a little bit. After it stopped, Latios was encased in a block of ice. The fridge dropped with a slight crash as Rotom floated out of it. Latios's eyes widened as he realized who the perpetrator was.

**000**

**Latios: *shivering* R-r-r-r-ROTOM!**

**000  
><strong>

**Rotom: *Laughing madly* Oh man, you see the look on his face when he realized it was me? Priceless!"**

**000  
><strong>

Rotom floated out of the kitchen laughing and noticed the group gathered at the center of camp. He floated over, stifling a chuckle, "Sorry I'm late, Latios asked me to help out it the kitchen."

Latias was suspicious but shook it off, "Alright then. Now that everyone is here, follow me to the beach."

When the contestants arrived at the beach, they saw 3 sets of two flags set up; one was on the beach, another was at the opening of the forest and another was sitting in the water.

Latias spoke up again, "Okay, let me explain the challenge which I like to call 'By Land, by Sand and by Sea'. This challenge is a race around the island. Once you finish, you'll come to me and I will give you a number. Once everyone finishes the race, I'll tell you what the numbers mean. There are three paths, the water route, the beach route, and the forest route. Before the race starts, each of you will choose one of the paths you want to take. Flying types and all of you that float, you'll have to take the water path, seeing as you all will have an advantage if you take the other paths. Each route is around the same in length, though each path has different traps." Some of the campers gasped. Latias frowned, "Yes there are traps. You'll find out what they are during the race. When you get back here, you'll pick out a card from that box. You'll find out what those are used for after everyone completes the challenge. Everybody understand?" All of the campers nodded. "Alright, now choose your paths. Make sure you are positive about your choice because once you choose which path you want to take, you can't change it."

Cloyster, Chinchou, Kingdra, Stunfisk, Klink, Rotom, Lampent, Sigilyph, Cryogonal, Altaria, Feebas and Magneton went to the water, Lucario, Spinarak, Roserade, Magmar, Serperior, Joltik, Sawk, and Shuckle went to the starting line at the forest, while Bisharp, Garedvoir, Zoroark, Deerling, Espeon, Absol, Persian, Zangoose, Doduo, Blitzle, Spiritomb, Numel and Aron stayed on the beach. As the campers moved to their starting points, Bisharp noticed something different about Numel, he wasn't asleep.

**000**

**Serperior: Spiritomb suggested that Deerling use Worry seed on Numel. This way, Numel wouldn't fall asleep during challenges and could be useful.**

**000  
><strong>

Latias looked around, all of the campers had taken their place at the starting line, "Okay, everyone! On your marks…get set…go!" And with that, the race had begun.

As the campers left, Latias turned around and looked toward the camp, "Alright, now to find Latios and make some calls."

* * *

><p>On the beach path, Doduo had taken the lead, though Absol and Zoroark weren't far behind. Bisharp had passed Deerling and Blitzle who were going at the same pace with Zangoose and Gardevoir behind them. Spiritomb had been using Psychic to help him move, while Aron and Espeon weren't far behind him. Bringing up the rear were Numel and Persian. Numel, despite being awake, was going at a relatively slow pace and Persian was more worried about what the sand was doing to her fur than trying to win the challenge.<p>

One of Doduo's heads looked back. They were gaining distance from the second and third place Pokemon, "Awesome! No one can catch up to us! We're going to win!" Said the first head.

"Yeah, I know, that's the third time you've said that." Said the other head.

"Well I like the fact that we are ahead, can't you be a little more positive?" Said the first head as it turned around.

The other head scoffed and turned around to face the other, "I knew that we were first when this whole thing started, so there's no point in saying the obvious right?"

"Yeah but-"

"Don't give me any buts, just-" Doduo was cut off as he tripped over a rock.

The two heads rolled around in the sand for a minute before coming to a halt.

They got up, spitting some sand out of their mouth. Then they realized their necks were tied in a knot.

"What the crap." The heads said at the same time.

**000**

**Doduo 1: *heads still stuck in a knot* THIS is why I hate being stuck with this guy.**

**Doduo 2: We always get tied up into something like this.**

**Doduo 1: I believe the worst one was when our necks were tied into a double helix.**

**Doduo 2: Still can't believe that Mr. Mime mistook us for balloons.**

**000  
><strong>

**Zangoose: Oh the irony. *she laughs***

**000**

* * *

><p>In the forest, everyone seemed to be neck and neck. Spinarak was using her web shot out of her mouth to swing from branch to branch, with Joltik doing something similar next to her. Shuckle was using the same web strings to swing behind them. Lucario was jumping from tree to tree, Roserade followed him from underneath. Sawk was close by, but he kept getting dead branches and rocks stuck in his feet since Magmar, who was in front of him, kept burning everything nearby with her tail. Serperior was slithering left and right through the bushes, though he wasn't on the main path. While he was going through the bushes, he noticed a couple of sharp objects.<p>

"Be careful everyone!" He shouted.

Everyone looked toward the source.

"What do you mean?" Shouted Shuckle.

Serperior popped out of the bushes, "The traps." He said. "I found a couple arrowheads in these bushes. Burn that bush over there if you don't believe me." He directed his head to a nearby bush.

"Gladly." Magmar smirked. She let out a burst of flame from her mouth, incinerating the bush.

When the fire stopped, the people in the forest realized there were a couple of arrowheads attached to some weird contraption.

"Told ya." Serperior said. "I can also bet there are tripwires around here. We're lucky we haven't triggered them yet."

Unluckily, while Sawk was bouncing around on his foot, he activated one of the tripwires.

"Gah!" He said as he tripped.

"Watch out!" Roserade called out. A couple of sharp rocks flew out of the bushes.

Lucario acted quickly. He jumped down from the branch he was sitting on and in front of the rocks. He tensed up and focused for one second and quickly pushed forward. Letting out aura through his palms, he stopped the rocks in mid-air, which fell down to the ground.

Closing his eyes, he relaxed. When he opened them, they were calm, "Come on." He said in a gruff voice. "You'll have to be careful from here on out." He said as he jumped back onto the branch and moved on.

**000**

**Sawk: Dang, I could learn something from him.**

**000  
><strong>

**Roserade: Wow, the way he responded to that, it was, astonishing, to say the least. I would have never acted like that way. He seemed heroic, so dashing and handsome-I mean cool, he looked cool when he did that. Yeah…**

**000**

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, there was chaos out on the water.<p>

"What's with these currents? They're all over the place!" Feebas cried out.

"Whirlpool dead ahead!" Kingrda shouted.

"Watch out for the geysers!" Lampent cried.

"Grahahaha, reminds me of home!" Cloyster laughed.

Everyone looked at Cloyster with a strange look on their face.

**000**

**Cryogonal: I know I'm his alliance member but man is he messed up!**

**000  
><strong>

**Chinchou: *flashes a couple of lights and makes a crazy hand symbol*.**

**000  
><strong>

**Latias: I got a couple of college friends to help me out with today's challenge. I called up Manaphy to help out with the sea route traps and Celebi for the later part of the forest path since I knew that the campers would find the shabby traps Latios made. I wanted to call Groudon to help out with the beach but he was out fighting with Kyogre at Sootopolis again. Figures.**

**000**

* * *

><p>The Pokemon running on the beach hadn't encountered any traps yet but they heard all of the shouts coming from the Pokemon in the water and were a bit uneasy. The positions of each Pokemon hadn't change much, though the distance between Doduo and Absol and Zoroark had shortened a bit after the twin bird Pokemon had taken their tumble.<p>

"They're catching up!" Shouted one head.

"I know that, do we have to have another talk about this and tumble into the sand again?" Said the other.

"Yeah but I'm just telling you so that you can put an extra burst of speed!" The first head returned.

As the heads continued to argue, they didn't realize they were nearing the area that the sea route Pokemon had encountered their traps.

As Doduo's heads were arguing, Absol felt something. Picking up the pace, he ran faster, passing Doduo. He then ran left and right, as if he was avoiding something.

Doduo's head looked shocked as they saw their teammate pass them, "What's up with him?" Asked one head.

The question was answered by a loud "BOOM" as they were sent flying into the air by a large sand geyser.

**000**

**Doduo 1 &2: What are the freaking odds.**

**000  
><strong>

Most of the Pokemon running on the beach looked in surprise after seeing the large blast sent the armless Pokemon flying. Doduo landed with a thud onto the sand. The heads only muttered an "ow" as they hit the ground and while the other Pokemon passed them, save a few all the way in the back.

Most of the other Pokemon had slowed down a bit, trying to avoid the blasts. The only Pokemon that was still moving quickly was Absol.

**000**

**Absol: I am able to detect any change in the ground and in the sky; hence, I was able to predict when and where the explosions would occur. I'm not proud of it though, many mistake me for Pokemon that causes bad luck.**

**000  
><strong>

Some Pokemon got hit by the blasts, though only the sand usually got caught in their eyes.

Numel however, was hit by a fairly large blast and as a result, was sent flying far away. He didn't even realize he was in the air until a minute later. Even then, he was expressionless.

**000**

**Numel: Meh.**

**000  
><strong>

Latias was looking at a monitor which displayed the three paths. Latios was nearby under a blanket and holding a mug of Aspear berry tea in his hands, shivering. Latias had found him earlier still frozen in the kitchen and quickly defrosted him. Now he was watching the monitors with her.

"How many explosives did you bury there?" Asked Latios, indicating where Numel had blasted off from.

"The directions said 20 kilograms of explosives." Latias answered.

"Oh." Latios said. 5 seconds later he did a double take, "20 KILOGRAMS? The directions said 20 GRAMS!"

Latias's eyes widened, "Oops." She said.

Latios face-palmed at his sister's clumsiness, "Great, just great, where is Numel now?"

A nearby noise caught their attention. They looked toward the beach to see small, stubby legs flailing around in the sand. Latias grabbed one of the legs and pulled out Numel. She looked at her brother, "Does that answer your question?" She asked.

She looked at Numel who was shaking off some sand, "Well Numel, since you're the first one back, you get to pick a card."

Latios objected, "He didn't run around the entire island."

"Yeah but he moves so slowly it would take a day for him to get back here, might as well speed things up."

Latias held out the box and Numel stuck his head in. He came out with a piece of paper in his mouth.

"Don't lose it; you'll need it later on." Latias said. And with that she went back to observing the other campers. From what she saw, the group in the forest was still going strong. However, they were nearing Celebi's area.

* * *

><p>Roserade looked around, the vegetation seemed to be getting thicker and thicker.<p>

Joltik noticed this as well, "Is it just me or is it getting darker here? He asked.

"It's not just you." Answered Spinarak.

"Well, there haven't been any traps for a while. Maybe we're nearing the end- woah!" Sawk was waving his arms trying to keep his balance. He was unsuccessful and fell onto the ground.

"You okay?" Serperior shouted.

"Yeah, seems I tripped over a large root." Sawk looked at the root and his eyes widened. It was getting larger.

"It's growing!" He shouted.

"What?" Magmar shouted as she stopped to look behind her.

"The forest." Sawk said. "It's growing as we speak."

Lucario looked at him for a moment, "We have to get going." He said

"Why's that?" Asked Roserade.

Serperior answered her question, "If this forest keeps growing, we might not be able to see our way through this place. As a result, we might lose our way and not be able to find the exit."

"Alright, enough talk! Move people!" Magmar shouted as she started to sprint again.

The other Pokemon began to follow the path while the trees kept growing.

Shuckle noticed something up ahead, "I see light!" She shouted.

"We're almost out!" Joltik yelled.

One by one, the Pokemon taking the forest path ran out. Lucario took the lead with Roserade close behind. Joltik and Spinarak swung out with Serperior beneath them. Shuckle flew out with Magmar and Sawk at her heels. They reached where Latios and Latias were and saw Numel sleeping on the ground.

"Guess Worry Seed wore off. But how did he get here so quickly?" Asked Serperior.

Latias directed their attention toward the monitor. It replayed the moment where Numel was sent flying.

"Guess that explains it." Sawk said.

"Welcome back everyone." Latias greeted. "Please pick a card out of that box and make sure you don't lose it."

Each of the Pokemon picked out a card from the box and waited to see who would arrive next.

Absol was the next to arrive; he didn't have any sand on him except for his paws.

"Wow, Absol, you've made it back pretty quickly." Latias said. She then looked behind him. "Where's everyone else?"

"It's going to take them a while." He responded. "They're busy avoiding the sand blasts."

"Alright. Anyways, take a card and wait for everyone to show up." Latias directed Absol to the box and he pulled out a card. He then walked away from everyone else and laid down on the beach.

"What's with him?" Asked Roserade. "He always distances himself from everyone."

"I'll go over there." Joltik said.

"No." Lucario said. "Leave him, he distanced himself from us for a reason. I don't know what, but there is one and we should respect his wishes."

**000**

**Roserade: Wow, not only strong, but smart and respectful. I like him.**

**000**

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, Pokemon in the water were swimming around frantically and Pokemon in the air where flying left and right.<p>

"Left! Right! Right! Left!" Klink's gears were shouting in unison while dodging the water spouts.

**000**

**Doduo 1: Now why can't we be like that?**

**Doduo 2: It's because you're an arrogant prick.**

**000  
><strong>

Kingdra was able to fight the currents while Cloyster let the currents and whirlpools take their course, which oddly enough, was working. Feebas and Chinchou however, were having a harder time as they were smaller Pokemon and didn't have as much strength. Stunfisk was on the ocean floor so he wasn't affected too much.

In the air, some of the smaller Pokemon were having an easier time flying around such as Rotom and Klink, while the larger Pokemon like Altaria and Cryogonal were having a harder time.

Doduo was having a hard time; they had fallen into last place as they kept getting hit by every sand blast they encountered due to poor communication.

"Go left, I mean right! Now right, I mean left!"

"Make up your mind!"

"BOOM!" And Doduo was sent flying again.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile at the starting point, Zoroark, Bisharp and Zangoose had already arrived and were watching as Gardevoir, Aron, Spiritomb and Espeon come over.<p>

They all grabbed a card and went to wait by the other contestants. Espeon, however saw Absol by himself and decided to walk over to where he was.

Absol heard her walk over and turned his head to look at her, "What do you want?" He grunted.

"I just wanted know if I could lay down next to you." She answered.

Absol let out a grunt and went back to his original position as Espeon laid down next to him.

**000**

**Espeon: His lone wolf behavior worries me, by making himself distant, he's basically asking his teammates to vote him off. I don't want that to happen. My guess is that he's been alone for a long time. He just needs someone to talk to, that's all.**

**000  
><strong>

Meanwhile, the Pokemon that were taking the water route were just starting to arrive. Magneton arrived first as he used his magnets to pull himself toward anything metal, namely Aron. Altaria and Sigilyph weren't far behind while Kingdra jumped out of the water and onto the beach. Stunfisk flopped onto the beach next with Klink right above him. Deerling and Blitzle arrived soon after. As they neared the other campers, Cloyster's shell landed right in front of them with a large thud, causing Deerling to nearly faint. Feebas and Chinchou bounced out of the water while Cryogonal, Lampent and Rotom floated above them. Latios glared at Rotom, still angry at what happened earlier that morning. The campers had to wait a while before everyone showed up. Persian came first, still walking, and with a bunch of sand on her. She shook the sand off herself before going to grab a card though she wanted to take a shower but her request was denied.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, Doduo was panting, "Where the hell is the camp? I'm getting tired."<p>

"It would have helped if your directions didn't suck!"

"It's hard when our necks are tied up like this!"

"BOOM!" And Doduo was sent flying once again. They landed hard on the sand, in front of everyone else on the island.

"Well, seems like the last person has arrived." Latias said. "Doduo, please take a card." Holding out the box, one of Doduo's heads weakly pulled out a card.

"Okay, now that all of you have your cards, take a look. There should be a number on there."

All of the campers looked at their card.

"Now, remember what place you got in the race? If the place you got was smaller than or equal to the number on your card, stand by me, if your place was higher than the number on the card, please stand by Latios." Latias said.

Everyone moved to stand by one of the Eon Pokemon.

"Okay, now that you're in place, those of you standing by Latios, you guys split yourselves into your teams. The team with more people standing by Latios loses today's challenge." Some eyes widened. "Now, how many people are on each team?" Latias asked.

Only one person was standing by Latios: Doduo.

Latias blinked a couple times and looked at all the Pokemon standing by her, "Well, I guess the Lugias win again! Ho-Ohs, I'll see you at elimination once again. Lugias, today, you guys get a reward! A hot tub!" The Lugias cheered in response while the Ho-Ohs gaped and began to glare at Doduo.

**000**

**Spiritomb: *chuckles* Actually, Doduo had the card with 18 on it and I had the card with 1 on it. I didn't know what everyone else had but I saw Doduo's when he pulled his out. So, I decided to use Trick and swapped my card with his. I would've swapped my card with one from the other team but I didn't know what they had and I didn't want to risk anything. This way, I was able to ensure that I couldn't possibly on the chopping block and that he could be. I didn't expect things to turn out this way though. Oh well, looks like Mr. Multiple Personality is going to be leaving us today.**

**000  
><strong>

After the campers had left Latias used telekinesis to talk to the two Pokemon that helped her out in the challenge, "Celebi, Manaphy, you're work is done. Thanks for your help today."

Manaphy replied first, "No problem, I've got plenty of time on my hands, call me if you ever need help again."

"It was fun doing this, I need a break traveling through time ever now and then." Celebi said. "By the way, have you seen Mew lately?"

"No, why?" Latias said.

"Nothing, it's just that he seems to be avoiding me. If you ever see him, mind telling him that me and him need to talk?"

"Sure."

And with that, the two other legendaries left.

* * *

><p>After the challenge, Zoroark was walking to the beach by the dock as Bisharp had requested a week before. He saw Lucario and Kingdra waiting over there as well.<p>

He approached them, "Bisharp ask you to come as well?"

Both of them nodded, "What I find vexing, is that our host has yet to appear." Kingdra said.

"I see you all have arrived." Bisharp said as he appeared from under the dock.

The other three turned to face him. Zoroark spoke, "We're here, what do you want?"

Bisharp sat down on a rock, "Nothing, just a proposition. I want you three to work with me."

Kingdra's eyes narrowed, "Are you asking for an alliance?"

Bisharp shook his head, "Not an alliance per se, think of it as a war council."

"War council?" Asked Lucario.

"Yes, a war council." Bisharp answered. "We will basically meet after every challenge and discuss future plans; who to vote off, strategy, how to beat the other team, etc."

"Why?" Asked Zoroark. He was getting a little suspicious.

"Like all of you, I want to get far in this competition, but I must admit I'll need a little help. So I sought out some of the stronger members of our team. You three." Bisharp said as he pointed to the Pokemon in front of him.

"Each of us has a special trait." He continued. "Kingdra, you have the brains, Zoroark, you have the stealth, Lucario, you have the strength and I have the power to lead. Combining our abilities, we can make it to at least the halfway point, where I plan to dissolve this group. Do you guys accept?"

The other three Pokemon looked at each other, Zoroark then had a question, "What if we don't accept or want out on this deal midway?"

Bisharp looked at him, "That's fine, I can understand if you're unsure about this or if you have doubts. I won't stop you from if you do reject my offer or leave, though I do hope you consider my proposition. Now, will you join me?"

Zoroark, closed his eyes and thought hard. When he opened them, he was sure of his decision. "I'm in." He said.

"Same here." Lucario said.

"Hope there's room for a third." Said Kingrda.

Bisharp smiled, "Good, I see you're all on board. Now for one of my ideas."

Bisharp took out a magnetic chess set and set it up. "Here's what I see with both of the teams, we are basically two sides of a chess board." He pointed to the white pieces. "This is our team." He pointed to the black pieces. "That's the other team. I've assigned different pieces to different campers, though it isn't complete."

He moved his hand to the white pieces side and pointed to the king. "I'll be the king, which shows leadership."

He pointed to a bishop, "Kingrda, you'll be a bishop."

"Lucario, you're a rook." Bisharp said as he pointed to the piece.

He then put his hand on the knight, "Zoroark, you're a knight."

"And the other pieces?" Asked Lucario

Bisharp sighed, "Not quite sure yet, I need more information before I make my decisions."

He then pointed to the black pieces, "Our goal here is to have the other team lose its king, which would cause the other team to crumble and fall apart. It won't be that easy, since the king is the leader, they have influence over who to vote for. We have to find a way to make the king screw up so that they get voted off."

Bisharp continued, "Now, they," pointing to the black pieces, "have already lost a piece, which I assume is a pawn." Bisharp then removed a black pawn from the board. "With tonight's vote, I assume they'll vote off another pawn again." And so he removed another pawn from the board. "So far, they've only lost two of their pawns, we need them to lose some of the more valuable and stronger pieces if we want to get to their king. All of you understand what I'm saying?"

The three other Pokemon nodded their heads.

"Okay." Bisharp said as he returned to the board, "Now, one of each team's pawns can become a queen. We need to find that pawn on their team so that they get voted off before they become a queen. For us, we need to make sure that pawn stays and can be used to the fullest. Also, on each team, there's something I like to call a wild card."

"Wild card?" Asked Zoroark.

Bisharp nodded, "Yes, on each team there will be someone who will show exceptional ability in some situations. That team member will be the wild card. For now though, we want to focus on the other pieces and find out who they are." He put the chess set away. "Any questions?" There was silence. "Okay, we'll meet here after the next challenge, do your best and try to find information about the other team and ours as well."

And with that, the four Pokemon went their separate ways.

* * *

><p>That night, all 16 members of the Ho-Ohs were sitting at the campfire pit for elimination. Doduo was tense and its necks were still stuck in a knot. Spiritomb and his alliance members were smirking while everyone else seemed to be giving someone on their team glares.<p>

Laitas and Latios floated over, "Alright, you guys were here last week so you know the drill. If I call your name, come up and get a poffin. If you don't get a poffin, you're out of the game. Absol, come up and get your poffin."

Absol went to Latios and got a red poffin.

"Feebas, Chinchou, Aron, you three are safe." The three Pokemon went to Latios and got blue poffins.

"Persian, Sawk and Serperior, you three are also safe tonight." They relaxed as they went up and got their poffins.

"Deerling, Zangoose, Numel and Spiritomb, you guys get to stay." Now, only 5 Pokemon were left.

"Doduo and Cloyster," The two Pokemon stood up expecting that they were safe. "I'm sorry but you two are the bottom two tonight. Please sit back down." Latias said. The two Pokemon did as they were told, though they were a bit crestfallen. "That means Altaria, Magneton and Cryogonal are safe. You can come get your poffins."

The three Pokemon let out sighs of relief as they went to get their poffins. Latias looked at the two Pokemon left. "Doduo and Cloyster, one of you will be getting the ax tonight. Will it be our Psycho-shellfish or our twin-headed flightless bird?"

"Just give it to Cloyster already!" Zangoose shouted.

Latias glared at her before sighing, "Fine, Cloyster come up, you're safe. Doduo, I'm sorry but you'll be leaving the island."

Cloyster bounced off his seat and while Doduo's heads began to fight again.

"It's all your fault that we got voted off!"

"My fault? The challenge was luck based! How is it my fault?"

"If your directions didn't screw us up, we may have come in earlier and gotten a better number!"

"Quit blaming me, it's also you're fault!"

"Now you're just being ridiculous!"

"I am not!"

"Yeah you are!"

The heads began fight once again.

"I'll go get their belongings." Sawk volunteered.

When Doduo's heads stopped fighting their necks weren't in a knot, it was tied into a bowtie.

The heads looked at each other, then at their necks.

**000**

**Zangoose: Hahahahahahaha!*Laughs so hard that she falls off the seat***

**000  
><strong>

**Spiritomb: Grah ha ha ha ha ha ha!**

**000  
><strong>

**Serperior: Pffft, ahahahahahaha!**

**000  
><strong>

**Magneton: BZZT. ACTIVATING HUMOR RESPONSE SEQUENCE. Ha ha ha ha ha. BZZT.**

**000  
><strong>

**Altaria: He he he he he he!**

**000  
><strong>

**Absol: *Cracks a smile***

**000  
><strong>

**Chinchou: *Eyes and lights flash while she laughs silently.***

**000  
><strong>

**Numel: *Asleep* Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz…**

**000  
><strong>

Doduo walked the dock with its necks still in a bowtie while their team waved them off, though some of them had to stifle a laugh.

**000**

**Doduo 1: Is there anything we want to say before we leave?**

**Doduo 2: Besides the fact that I don't like you? No.**

**Doduo 1: Well who do you want to win?**

**Doduo 2: No one really, I don't really care.**

**000  
><strong>

Once Doduo left, the Ho-Ohs left the campfire pit, Cloyster however motioned Persian over.

"What do you want?" She asked.

"I be having a deal for you." Cloyster said.

"Huh? What's your problem?" She looked at him with a queer eye

"Problem? I have no problems. I'm as problemless as a virus free computer with a firewall and high maintenance antivirus system." Cloyster answered.

Persian stared, "Just tell me what you want, I have to go groom myself."

"Me and some friends have formed an alliance within our team to vaporize the competition see, and we want you to join our alliance."

"Tempting offer, what if one of us wins?"

"We split the prize between us."

Persian thought about the Cloyster's proposition, "Fine, but on one condition."

"What is it you ask for?"

"If _I_ win, I get all the prize money and you guys get the treats."

Cloyster frowned, he hadn't expected this, "Wait for me, I will return." He said as he bounced off.

He found Spiritomb and Cryogonal in a clearing, "So, did she accept?" Asked Spiritomb.

"On one condition. The lady says that if she wins, she gets the money and we split the treats between us." Cloyster said.

Spiritomb frowned, he didn't like the offer but he needed to increase his numbers. He then thought of an idea, "Tell her that's fine."

Cryogonal objected, "But what if she actually does win?"

"We won't let her." Spiritomb calmly said with a smile. "We'll make sure that she will become unpopular with everyone else here and she'll get voted off. She's now nothing more than a pawn. That will teach her not to make bargains with us."

Cloyster smirked, "Me likey. Alright, I'll go tell her that we accept her offer." He bounced away.

Cloyster returned to where he had left Persian, he was grinning, "Welcome to the alliance."

* * *

><p>Okay, third chapter and second contestant gone. Doduo was okay to write for but it got boring after a while. The only thing Doduo had going for it was that it kept on fighting with itself and that gets tedious really quickly.<p>

Fun Fact: Ummm, I don't have a fun fact for Doduo but I do have one for the chapter; the original challenge was just going to be a race around the island and have Numel somehow win it for his team. I decided that was boring so I decided to spice things up a bit and I came up with this as the final product.

I bet I tricked some of you thinking Bisharp was calling an alliance. Well you guys were wrong! I did however, enjoy writing that little dialogue about how every contestant was like a chess piece.

As usual try to find references to anything you can find and post them in your reviews. 1 imaginary cookie per find.

**Doduo 1: Please review everyone!**

**Doduo 2: Hey! We were supposed to do that together!**

P.S. I uploaded this on my birthday so it's a little birthday treat to all of you.

* * *

><p><strong>Next Time: Teams get building as they try to impress a certain someone in need of some help. Meanwhile, team members find out about a certain secret and decide whether to reveal it or not.<strong>


	4. Can't Beat the Heat!

**Okay, chapter four. Doing alright, I'm not suffering from writer's block yet.**

**So far, 2 gone and from the same team, will we be seeing a pattern? Maybe, maybe not, who knows.**

**You guys seem to love Cloyster, I must admit, I didn't think that he would become this popular. I just based his character on his looks, I mean, just look at his smile! It just screams psycho or madman!**

**I also see that you guys like my chess board explanation. That is one of the few things that I actually had planned out before I began this story (OMG). We'll see some positions be filled, some others, not so much, heck, some Pokemon might have their positions switched. Who knows! Well, except for me of course.**

**Okay, enough of me talking, onto the story!**

* * *

><p>Latias was sleeping peacefully on her soft and comfy bed until a loud noise woke her up.<p>

"RING! RING! PHONE CALL FOR YOU! PHONE CALL FOR YOU!" Went a small Pidgey-shaped phone by the side of her bed.

She rubbed her eyes and picked up the phone, "Who the *CENSORED* is this? It's four *CENSORED* AM in the morning! What do you *censor again* want?"

She listened for a moment, "Oh, it's you. Listen, don't call me this early, I get irritable if I don't get enough sleep. What time is it over there?" She waited. "Wow, really? Time difference is that much? Damn. Anyways, what the hell do you want?... I see, well that sucks for you. What do you want me to *censor* do?...And if I refuse?...You wouldn't *censor* dare…Dammit…Fine, I'll do it. Now let me get my *censor, wow there's a lot* sleep!"

Latias flopped onto her bed tired and irritated. Problem was, she couldn't fall back asleep for the rest of the night.

* * *

><p>That morning, the campers woke up refreshed and energized. Doduo's elimination had helped everyone get enough sleep the past couple days. The hot tub was open to everyone since it the Lugias decided it would be better if everyone enjoyed it. Zoroark decided to hop in and was joined by Gardevoir, Stunfisk, Sawk, Feebas and Serperior.<p>

"So, how's your team?" Asked Zororak.

"Pretty good." Answered Serperior. "I think some of the more useless members got voted off so I feel we'll do better the next challenge. Don't think that we'll lose every challenge." Serperior said as he laughed.

**000**

**Zoroark: Ever since I entered Bisharp's war council, I feel that I have a chance at winning this. And I can really use that money. Why? I won't disclose my reasons yet.**

**000**

Gardevoir chimed in, "Least you have a positive outlook."

"But that can't be said about everyone else on your team." Stunfisk quickly said. He pointed to a Pokemon who was alone.

Absol was distancing himself from the rest of the campers, laying down in the shade of a tree.

Sawk shook his head, "We've tried to talk to him but he keeps ignoring us, it's actually kind of insulting."

"He's probably a good person, maybe he's just hiding it." Feebas added.

They then saw Espeon walk over to Absol.

"Why don't you ever hang out with everyone else?" She asked him.

He looked at her then turned away.

"Hey, don't ignore me!" She said.

"Then why do you keep talking to me?" He asked.

"Because, I want to learn more about the other people here."

"Then go learn about someone else."

"But I want to learn more about you." Espeon said.

Absol let out a snort, "Learn about me? Hah, you're better off not knowing."

The two continued to converse as the Pokemon in the hot tub watched.

"Least someone is trying to reach out to him." Gardevoir said.

**000**

**Feebas: I don't have anything against the guy, and I don't think anyone else on our team does either. It's just his behavior that's rubbing us the wrong way.**

**000**

"POP!" Everyone turned to look at where the noise was coming from. They saw smoke coming from the mess hall. Everyone frantically ran toward it to see what happened. They approached the door and Roserade tried to open it.

"No good! It's locked!" She shouted

"Step aside!" Magmar yelled

She let a jet of flame burning the door. She then kicked it down and smoke wafted out of the doorway.

"I'll take care of this." Sigilyph said. He stared into the room, for a LONG time.

"Uh dude, you okay there?" Blitzle asked.

Sigilyph blinked, "Oh, sorry, spaced out for a minute. What was I doing again?"

The campers groaned, "You were supposed to get rid of the smoke!" Zangoose shouted.

"Oh, right!" He quickly flapped his wings which blew away the smoke. The campers saw Latios on the floor coughing. Bisharp and Zoroark went over to support him.

"What happened?" Asked Joltik who was scrambling around on Cryogonal, much to his annoyance.

"Get off of me!" He shouted, causing Joltik to latch onto Aron.

Latios looked at the campers, "Someone stuck a couple loafs of bread in the oven and left it on the highest temperature. Then, they put a bunch of eggs in a pot and left it on the stove. All of them exploded creating that loud popping noise."

"D-do you know who did it?" Asked Deerling.

"No, but I have an idea." His mouth turned into a scowl. "Rotom! Where are you?" He shouted.

"Over here." Rotom said as floated over. "You rang?"

"I know you did this, just like like last time when you froze me." Latios growled.

Rotom shook his head, "Sorry to burst your bubble but I wasn't anywhere near here this morning."

"It's true." Aron added. "I was talking to him for a large part of the morning. We came over when we heard the explosion. Got any metal by the way?"

Everyone looked at him. They then began to talk amongst themselves discussing who could have done it. Rotom then looked around and saw someone leave the kitchen. His eyes widened when he realized who it was.

**000**

**Rotom: *Smiling* No. Way.**

**000**

"I see you guys are all having fun."

Everyone turned around to see Latias at the doorway. Something was different about her though. She had bags under her eyes, her arms were folded, she had a scowl on her face, and she seemed irritated.

"Anyways, follow me, you guys have a challenge today. Latios, I need you to do something. Now get moving. We're burning daylight." Latias said in a slightly angry tone.

She left and everyone in the mess hall looked at each other. "Anyone think that our friendly host seems different in any way?" Asked Bisharp.

Latios groaned, they had no idea.

**000**

**Latios: You've officially seen my sister snap and it's only going to get worse from here. Arceus have mercy.**

**000**

A while later, the campers arrived at a large open desert. There was a pile of stones of various sizes nearby.

Most of the Pokemon were panting as they stood in the basking sun. The unbearable heat was enough but they had to run in order to keep up with Latias who was going at least 40 mph when they were approaching the challenge site. They were exhausted; some even contemplated dropping then and there.

Latias and Latios still looked as cool as cucumbers, considering the fact they were eating shaved ice as they floated there.

"Why don't we get any of that?" Asked Spinarak.

"Because, we're the hosts and you guys are just here to listen to our orders." Latias said as she finished her shaved ice.

**000**

**Magmar: Okay, what is with our host? Last challenge, she was nice, today she's a complete bitch! I wouldn't be surprised if she was bipolar.**

**000**

"Alright now that you're here, I'll explain the challenge." Latias said. "But first, Latios, if you would be so kindly to introduce today's guest."

Latios nodded and he faced the open desert. "In the red corner, weighing 507 pounds, hammering foes with his arms of stone, Regi 'The Mountain' ROCK!"

As he finished, a large mountain of sand erupted, scaring the living daylights out of Deerling who almost fainted if Blitzle hadn't caught her.

As the sand cleared, a large Pokemon made out of rock was standing, and slightly angry.

"How many times do I have to tell you that was a one-time thing!" He shouted at Latios.

Latios snickered, "It was hilarious Regi, what could I say? One of my best friends in college getting beat by Cobalion, one of the oldest guys on campus, who you couldn't do a thing against!"

"Well he had a type advantage. I couldn't do a thing! And stop calling me by my nickname!" Regirock shouted back.

Latios shrugged, "Of course, blaming it on the ol' 'type advantage'. You really need to find better excuses."

"Ahem." Latias said with her arms crossed. "Can we get back to the task on hand? Regi, I'm still angry at you waking me up today."

He groaned, "Are you still angry? I told you it was important."

"Not as important as me losing my beauty sleep."

**000**

**Cloyster: Ahah! So she's as sleepless as an insomniac after a caffeine crash!**

**000**

"Um, can we learn what our challenge is?" Asked Shuckle.

Latias turned toward the campers, "Fine, jeez you guys are impatient. Anyways, our friend here Regirock lives in the Desert Ruins in Hoenn, known for its sandstorms. Since his house is constantly battered by sandstorms, it eventually began to erode away and now he has no home. So in today's challenge each team is building a new home. There are criteria however. One, there can only be two rooms and two, there has to be some kind of gimmick or requirement in order to get into the second room. Plus, in order to make this hard, if you collapse, unable to help continue to build or decide to drop out for whatever reason, we'll transport you back to the campgrounds where you'll be allowed to rest and cool off. However, if you do drop out, you are unallowed to come back and help work on your team's temple. You have as long as you want to work on the temple but if you're here in the desert, the only thing you can do is work. You are also not allowed to interfere with the other team's work. When your team is finished, report to us. Once both teams are finished, our friend Regirock will decide which house he'll live in. The winning team will get immunity for the night. Any questions?"

Joltik, now on Bisharp, had a question, "What if everyone on a team drops out?"

"Then your team is considered done." Latias answered. "Okay, now that all questions have been answered, get to work!" And with that all the Pokemon scrambled off.

Latias turned to the two other legendaries, "Shall we get out the shade?"

Latios smiled, "Already took care of that." He pointed to a couple of beach chairs with sunglasses on them.

"Okay, let's sit back and watch."

* * *

><p>"Okay, does anyone have any idea on how we're going to build this thing?" Asked Zangoose.<p>

No one said anything. Then Cloyster piped up.

"I be thinking we should start with a diamond base then build a large second story on top." Everyone on the team was smiling, they liked the idea.

"And then, we shall make it invisible! Our victory will be assured like an anvil that drops on the heads of people in an old cartoon!"

Everyone's smiles then disappeared.

Zangoose sighed, "Ignoring our illogical teammate-."

"Illogic? There's no such thing as illogic, there's only logic and nonsensical logic." Cloyster interrupted.

Zangoose glared at him, then continued speaking, "Okay, back on topic, I have an idea of what we could do…"

**000**

**Persian: I'm now a little worried that I joined that alliance, it could prove troublesome, especially with him in it, and I'm not talking about the snowflake or the vortex.**

**000**

**Cloyster: I can has praise for idea?**

**Zangoose: *outside* NO!**

**000**

"Anyone here have experience with buildings?" Bisharp asked.

Zoroark raised his hand, "I've done a couple of construction jobs and seen many blueprints so I have a good idea of what we should look for."

Bisharp nodded, "Okay, now for the gimmick, can anyone think of something?"

"I'll do it." Garedvoir said. "I have a couple ideas in mind."

"Good, everyone else, gather materials and try to outlast the other team. Let's go, Lugias for the win!" Bisharp shouted, and the team dispersed.

* * *

><p>Latias, Latios and Regirock were watching from the sides as each team went to work.<p>

"Who do you think is going to win this time?" Latios asked his sister.

"Lugias, they've won the last two, what's stopping them for a third?" She answered. "Though I still don't like some of them, they tick me off a bit."

"Speaking of ticked off," Regirock added, "My brother is still mad at you." He said to Latias

"Who? Registeel? Please, every time we hugged, he'd knock the wind out of me!"

Latios was laughing while he sipped his drink, Regirock then looked at him, "Hey, you're not off the hook either, Regice is still out for blood." Latios immediately did a spit-take.

"See? You shouldn't be talking." Latias said smugly.

"Oh be quiet, at least I kissed her, unlike you and Registeel." Latios responded furiously.

"And what happened afterward?" Latias said with a gleam in her eye.

Latios's face turned a beet red and he looked away, "My tongue was stuck on her for a week." He said in a low voice.

Latias burst out laughing, "See? Bad idea on your part. Didn't mom tell you not to stick your tongue on a cold surface?"

Latios crossed his arms and huffed in response.

**000**

**Latios: I thought my tongue would freeze and fall off during that whole week! I didn't come off until Phione finally decided to spray water on it! It wasn't funny!**

**Latias: *outside* Yes it was!**

**Latios: Shut up!**

**000**

On the Lugia's side, Gardevoir and Zoroark were discussing on what to do about their team's temple.

"For the gimmick I was thinking something along the lines of a secret passageway." Gardevoir suggested.

Zoroark shook his head, "No, that's too easy. Besides, it wouldn't work with what I was thinking for the temple layout. I was thinking of having a large stone base with a solid slab on top. Then, we build an underground stairway to a chamber where Regirock will be. The stairway will be covered by a statue of Regirock."

"Fine, but what's our gimmick?" Gardevoir asked.

"I leave that to you." Zoroark said as he smiled. "We need to make the actual building before making the gimmick. Here's an idea though, use the statue that is placed over the passageway. Don't fret too hard about it okay?" He gave Gardevoir a reassuring pat on the shoulder as he left with his blueprint.

He called everyone else over, "Okay, I got the basic design for what we are going to do…"

* * *

><p>"Everyone understand what we're doing?" Serperior asked. The team nodded. "Alright, time to work. We need to win this challenge. Let's give a 110%!" Everyone dispersed and ran off to complete their jobs.<p>

During the time that elapsed, Serperior thought of a good idea for the team's temple. It was going to look like a pyramid and Regirock's chamber would be at the bottom. Spiritomb thought of their gimmick. There would be stairs going up and down. The bottom stairs would be blocked by sand. The only way for it to be cleared was by pressing a switch on the wall of the staircase going up. It would lift the pyramid out of the ground thereby removing the sand and allowing use of the stairs going down leading to Regirock. Serperior had given out specific roles for the team; Deerling, Persian, Numel, Feebas, and Chinchou would get materials; Magneton and Cloyster would figure out how to create their team's gimmick; Sawk, Aron, Absol and Zangoose would work on the interior while Spiritomb, Cryogonal, Altaria and himself would work on the outside.

Everything was running smoothly, until 3 hours into the challenge when some of team members began to drop like flies. Chinchou and Feebas were drying up due to the heat, Persian was complaining how she didn't have any strength to continue after pulling only 2 stones and that the heat was making a mess out of her fur, while Cryogonal had turned into steam and couldn't continue working.

* * *

><p>Comparatively, the Lugias weren't having too much of a problem, only Kingdra had dropped out due to drying up. Meanwhile, Zoroark was supervising the building and directing everyone on what to do; Magmar was their strongest member by running around the heat with no sweat while Blitzle was able to make quick trips due to his speed; Joltik and Spinarak were using web strings to bring rocks to the top where Shuckle, Sigilyph, Rotom and Lampent would find a place to put them; Klink was working on the Regirock statue, using the teeth of the gears to carve the stone; Stunfisk was digging out the sand from the underground passageway while Espeon, Bisharp and Roserade put in the steps and walls.<p>

Gardevoir however was still trying to figure out a good gimmick for their team. Zoroark noticed her frustration and walked over.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

She was frowning, "I just can't come up a good way to open up the passage, even with your tip."

Zoroark moved closer and noticed a pile of crumpled papers nearby. Gardevoir sighed as she crumpled up the paper she was using and added it onto the pile. Zoroark's eyes widened, surely this was a joke; besides Kingdra, she was one of the smartest people on their team. He took one of the papers from the stack, opened it up and looked at it. His eyes widened even more; they were elaborate, well detailed mechanisms that would make ancient Egyptians and aliens jealous. He took a couple more, they were like the first one, all fleshed out and detailed.

He looked at Gardevoir, "How could you not be satisfied with these, they're brilliant!" He exclaimed.

Gardevoir smiled, "Thanks, but look again, you'll see what's wrong with them."

He looked at the one in his hand and then another, he then realized the problem; they were too elaborate. They would take forever to make and he doubted that they had the technology needed where they were.

Zoroark sighed, "Let me help you out here…"

**000**

**Gardevoir: It was nice working with Zoroark, I was really stressed out before he came to help out. For some reason, his presence helped calm me down, I wonder why…**

**000**

At the 5 hour mark, the Ho-Ohs were having a problem; due to their lack of team members, they had to continuously switch their jobs. Besides that, the heat was continuously bogging them down and they were tired as well due to the large amount of work that they were doing. Magneton and Cloyster had finished working on the gimmick so they were free to do other work but even with their help, progress was still slow. Numel was working slowly; Deerling was on the verge of collapsing; Altaria was getting tired having to constantly flap her wings; Sawk was starting to drag his heels; Cloyster was shaking off sweat, which caused him to be even more tired while everyone else's pace seemed to be slowing as well.

**000**

**Zangoose: …This challenge sucked for us.**

**000**

Deerling soon fell down, saying that she was too tired to move and Cloyster shut himself inside his shell saying that he was as tired as fat man who had finished a ten-course meal spiked with sleeping pills.

* * *

><p>On the Lugia's side, Zoroark and Gardevoir had finally figured out a gimmick, they were going to put four statues inside their temple, one on each corner. In order for the Regirock statue in the middle to become moveable, each statue had to be turned so they faced the center. Meanwhile, most of the team was working on the top of their structure. Joltik was having a hard time pulling up a large block of stone. Spinarak noticed this and crawled over.<p>

"You need some help with that?" She asked.

"Yeah, it's a bit heavy." He answered.

Spinarak shot out some web which stuck onto the stone block. "We pull on three okay?" She asked. Joltik nodded. "Okay, one...two… three!"

They pulled it up and it flew over their heads, hitting Shuckle.

"Woah, ah!" She shouted as she lost balance and fell backwards. She ducked in her shell which rolled down the side of the rocky structure.

Spinarak and Joltik heard this and looked up, just in time for Shuckle's shell to hit them and send them flying off the team's structure and into the sand. The two arachnids were unable to continue working as they couldn't get out of the sand. Shuckle hit the sand next and when she popped out, she claimed to be dizzy and fell down on the spot. And with that, three members of the team dropped out and were carried back to camp by Latios, due to Latias's fear of bugs.

Besides that little mishap, everything else seemed to be going smoothly. Everyone was tired but it didn't seem like it slowed them down too much. The only other Pokemon on the team that dropped out were Stunfisk ,who had finished digging but was too tired to do anything else, and Klink who couldn't make anymore statues.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, the Ho-Ohs weren't doing so well. They still had to finish the top and outside. They were about done with the path to Regirock's chamber but that still took them a while and they had yet to decorate the inside of their structure.<p>

At the top, Spiritomb's psychic powers were still going strong but Serperior and Altaria were slowly tiring out. Magneton was doing well but soon, smoke was seen coming out of his body.

"WARNING. WARNING. WARNING." He blared. " BODY TEMPERATURE REACHING CRITICAL LEVELS. ACTIVATING COOLING SEQUENCE. ERROR. COOLING SEQUENCE OFFLINE. ACTIVATING MANUAL SHUTDOWN. HAVE A NICE DAY. BZZT." And with that, he fell down onto the sand.

Sawk and Aron had also collapsed in the sand as they couldn't stand the heat anymore. The Ho-Oh's numbers were half of the Lugia's and they were way behind.

Serperior noticed this, "We've got to work faster." He murmured to himself. "I don't want us to head to elimination again."

**000**

**Serperior: I was really confident that we would win this challenge, now I'm not so sure. We really need this win though, our team morale is at an all time low and it won't look good for us in future challenges.**

**000**

The 8 hour mark came up and the Lugias were making the finishing touches on their temple.

Zoroark looked around making sure everything was in place and that the building was completely finished. He gave an approving nod and told Lucario to report to the hosts that the team had finished.

Meanwhile, The Ho-Ohs were about 2/3 done with theirs. Spiritomb looked toward the Lugia's work area and saw that they had finished.

He looked toward the two other Pokemon with him at the top of their structure, "We need to hurry, the other team has just finished."

Serperior nodded and looked toward Altaria, "Altaria, can you go tell Zangoose, Absol and Numel to hurry up with bringing the stones?"

"Sure." Altaria said. She flew down from the top as Serperior and Spiritomb kept working.

She spotted Zangoose and flew next to her, "Spiritomb says we should hurry up, the other team has finished."

Zangoose looked in surprise and quickly scowled, "Tell him that me and Absol are working as hard as we can. Numel is the one that needs to hurry up. Bring these with you." She handed a couple of slabs of stone to Altaria who flew back.

Zangoose ran back to get more rocks and passed Numel on the way. "Get moving you lazy lug!" She shouted. "We're way behind!"

Numel looked at her lazily, "Mmmmkay." Zangoose then ran off while Numel continued walking at a slow, but at slight bit faster pace.

After 5 minutes of walking, Zangoose passed by him again. She screeched to a halt when she saw him and screamed at him, "I told you to hurry up! Not the opposite!" And she ran off again.

It wasn't until the 13 hour mark was reached that the Ho-Oh's finished their pyramid. By this time everyone else building but Spiritomb and Numel were on the ground groaning.

Spiritomb went to report to the hosts who were now sun tanning.

Latias removed her sunglasses, "What do you want?" She asked in a cross tone.

"Just wanted to know we've successfully completed the challenge with half the members than the other team had." Spiritomb said as he floated away.

The hosts and judges got up and stretched before looking at the team's structures.

Regirock nodded, "Appearance wise, I like the Ho-Oh's. I always liked pyramids."

Latios looked at him, "No duh. You almost made our dorm into one. I think I still have that jar of sand from that day."

"Continuing." Latias said.

Regirock went inside the Ho-Oh's building first. He walked out of it 45 minutes later and seemed content.

"Well, it was nice, I especially liked the dead-end staircase. Gonna take everyone a long time to find me. Now for the other."

He walked into the Lugia's structure.

When he came out, he was happy, "You put statues of me in there? I feel honored! You guys win!"

Lugias cheered, Ho-Ohs were once again dumbfounded. Latias clapped, "Congrats, Lugias win again, today, you guys get an A/C put in your cabin. Ho-Ohs, you're coming back to elimination. Good day. Latios, bring Regirock's house to the desert."

**000**

**Zangoose: We've been getting screwed over with these stupid freaking twists, we need to find someone to blame for this.**

**000**

A majority of the Ho-Ohs were gathered outside of their cabin. Those that had collapsed had heard the news and weren't happy either.

"So, who's going to leave today?" Asked Feebas.

"I say Numel. Barely helped this challenge and the first challenge. If it weren't for that explosion last challenge, he would have taken forever to finish." Zangoose responded angrily.

"Makes sense." Sawk said. There was a chorus of agreement among the team.

"Actually, I have another idea." Spiritomb interrupted.

"What is it?" Persian asked.

"We should vote off Absol."

Many looked at him in surprise.

"Why him?" Altarria asked. "He's been doing well every challenge. He was also one of the last few members left this challenge."

"Yes I know that but think about it. Absol are known to cause bad luck, maybe he is giving us bad luck. If we vote him off, our losing streak might end."

"I agree." Cryogonal said. "I want us to actually win one, not continue losing like this."

Serperior thought about it for a minute, then sighed, "I'm not positive that this is the best course of action. But we need to stop our losing streak, so I'll vote for him but know that I have my doubts."

The rest of the team members began to murmur in agreement, though albeit reluctantly. During all of this, Absol was walking nearby and heard the whole conversation.

"So you think of me as a jinx?" He said as he passed by.

Everyone turned towards him, "Unfortunately, yes." Spiritomb said."I mean you cause disasters, why not bad luck?"

Absol's gaze darkened, "First of all I don't cause disasters, I only sense them. Second, I don't cause bad luck either, in fact my ability is Super Luck, so don't try and pin our losing streak on me."

"Then what do you suggest?" Cryogonal asked. "How do we know that you aren't giving us bad luck?"

Absol looked at him, then back towards everyone else, "Give me one chance. If we win the next challenge, that means I'm not a jinx."

"And if we don't?" Asked Spiritomb.

"Then you can vote me off. Is that fair?"

The other Pokemon talked amongst themselves. Serperior then spoke, "Alright, we'll you a chance, just make sure you keep your end of the bargain."

Absol nodded, "Thanks." He said curtly and left for the campfire pit.

* * *

><p>That night, the Ho-Ohs were at the campfire pit. Latias looked around.<p>

"Ho-Oh's, here again. I'm starting to think you guys like elimination. Anyways, I'm tired so I'm going to make this quick. Everyone but Numel come get a Poffin."

As everyone got up from where they were, Numel's expression didn't change.

Latias looked at him, "Numel you've been eliminated, please walk the dock of shame and leave."

"Meh, alright." He said. He didn't look angry or anything, he just walked away to get his belongings.

**000**

**Numel: *yawn* Well, I'm gone, I don't mind. I just wished I could sleep more. If I could choose someone to win, I would say maybe Aron or Chinchou. Well I'm leaving, bye *yawns***

**000**

Later that night, Rotom was floating around looking for someone. He saw Lampent and floated towards her.

"Hey." He said.

Lampent turned around in surprise, "Oh, hello Rotom. Didn't know you were there."

"Yeah, I was actually looking for you."

"What for?"

"That was you this morning wasn't it?"

Lampent looked flushed, "No, w-what are you talking about?"

Rotom smiled, "Don't lie, I saw you float out of the kitchen."

Lampent sighed, "Alright, you caught me. Are you going to tell Latios?"

"No." Rotom said, "I like pranks. I'll keep it our secret."

Lampent smiled, "Thanks." Then she floated away.

**000**

**Rotom: I'm probably going to ask Lampent to help with future pranks on Latios. We'll be a pranking duo! Maybe even the best!**

**000**

**Lampent: I love pranking people and I think Rotom does as well. I think working with Rotom will be fun.**

**000**

Roserade and Gardevoir were walking toward their cabin talking about the day's challenge.

"It's a good thing that we made a statue of Regirock, we might have lost the challenge if we didn't put one." Roserade said.

Gardevoir nodded, "Guess we should give Zoroark credit for that idea."

"You know, I've noticed something. You seem to be around Zoroark a lot. Is there a reason why?"

Gardevoir's face flushed as she tried to maintain her composure, "N-nothing. I could say the same to you though. You and Lucario seemed to be working together quite often."

Roserade hid her face behind one of her hands, "Oh that, umm, it's nothing, I-we think that we work well around eachother."

"Uh-huh." Gardevoir said. Then something in the corner of her eye caught her attention. She stopped and Roserade noticed this.

"What's up?" Roserade asked.

Gardevoir walked into the bushes and ducked down. She motioned for Roserade to follow her.

Gardevoir was crouched behind a bush looking at the beach.

"Okay, what's going on?" Roserade asked.

"Shhh!" Gardevoir said. She pointed towards four figures by the docks.

Roserade looked closer and realized the four figures were Lucario, Kingdra, Bisharp and Zoroark.

"What are they doing?" Asked Roserade.

Gardevoir shook their head, "Beats me but they're definitely talking about something."

"You think it's an alliance?"

"Not sure, but they're keeping something from the rest of us."

"Should we tell the rest of the team?"

"No, let's observe them a little more before we decide to tell anyone about it." Gardevoir said.

Roserade frowned, "Fine, but we're going to have to keep a close watch on them."

* * *

><p>And there! My fourth chapter is done!<p>

Numel is gone, we all kind of saw this coming. Oh well.

Absol, guy's in some trouble am I right? I'll leave you guys to discuss among yourselves what might happen.

Oh noez, Gardevoir and Roserade found out about the war council! Whuts gonna happen? Well I do and you guys don't, wewt!

Fun Fact: Numel was actually supposed to be in a relationship but I decided not to do it because I couldn't find a good partner Pokemon for him.

I don't think I put any references in here to the best of my knowledge but if you find one, kudos to you.

**Numel: Zzzzzzzzzzzz…**

**Regirock: *holds up a sign that says "Review please!"***

* * *

><p><strong>Next Time: The remaining contestants have to climb a mountain and survive at the top, but fate has other plans. Meanwhile, one contestant is pushed to their limit trying to survive but luck isn't on their side.<strong>


	5. Dangerous Mountain! Absol's Test!

**Chapter five, still truckin' along.**

**Anyway, thank you all for your kind reviews, though some constructive criticism would help :P.**

**I don't think I need to put the best line winners, there all from the same Pokemon, you guys should know who that is.**

**Just to clarify, I am not dead, I've just been busy. Read Dark Ampithere's stories if you haven't, though I think most of us have.**

**Ummm, can't think of anything else to say so, onto the story!**

* * *

><p>Morning, a time of peace and quiet, and everything on the island was quiet as well. All the Pokemon were calm as they could ever be, even the Pokemon who should have been the most stressed was relaxing peacefully under the shade, until a familiar figure walked by.<p>

"I heard what happened between you and your team."Espeon said.

Absol groaned, Altaria must have told her, Espeon had made many female friends, even if they were on the opposite team.

"If you know you're not a jinx, why didn't you defend yourself better? Why did you make that deal between your team?" Espeon asked.

"Because, it was the only way for me to stay here. And why are you so concerned about what I do? It's not like it matters what happens to me, you're on the other team."

"I'm just trying to look out for you."

"What are you, my guardian angel?" Absol scoffed.

A loud noise then blared from the intercom.

"All remaining campers! Please report to the mess hall. I repeat, please report to the mess hall!" Latias's voice blared from the intercom.

"And so it begins." Absol muttered under his breath as he got up to leave.

**000**

**Absol: Am I worried? No. Should I be? Maybe. I don't have any enemies here but at the same time, I don't have friends. That doesn't bother me though. I've learned having friends can hurt, which is why distance myself from everyone.**

**000  
><strong>

**Espeon: I like making friends with everyone I know, though there are some I stay away from. Absol intrigues me though, he seems to be hiding something, I want to know what and with that, I bet I can befriend him.**

**000  
><strong>

In the mess hall, all of the Pokemon were gathered. Bisharp's war council members were grouped together while Roserade and Gardevoir kept glancing over every now and then, team Eclipse situated themselves in a corner of the room watching the others, Aron was eating the utensils, Rotom and Lampent were chatting it up as Sigilyph nearby had his eyes transfixed onto something but kept shaking his head every now and then. Meanwhile, most of the other Pokemon were making small talk with one another as Latias flew in and Latios followed suit.

"Aron, please stop eating the silverware." Latias said. Aron quickly spit out the spoon he was chewing on while Latios took the rest of the silverware away.

Latias turned back to the rest of the contestants, "Anyways, you have a challenge today. It'll take place at the top of the mountain in the center of this island. You are to go up the winding mountain path in pairs since we've chosen to rig the whole mountain with an inhuman amount of traps. Don't worry though, none of them are lethal, or so we think. Once everyone reaches the top, I'll explain the real challenge. Any questions?"

Chinchou raised a fin but only her eyes and lights flashed so Magneton had to interpret, "BZZT. Do we get to choose our partners for going up the mountain? BZZT."

Latias nodded, "Good question, yes you can choose your partner and your partner can also be someone from a different team. Since there are an odd number of you guys here, there will be one group of three."

She looked around to see if there were anymore hands raised, "Okay since there are no more questions, everyone, pair up!"

Lampent and Rotom joined together, Bisharp and Kingdra paired up, Zoroark and Lucario decided to work together, Altaria and Sawk was another group, Feebas and Serperior paired up, and Klink and Aron paired up, though Aron just wanted to chew on Klink so Magneton was put in charge of watching Aron. Gardevoir and Roserade became a team, Cloyster and Cryogonal would work together, Persian and Spiritomb decided to be a pair, Blitzle decided to join a timid Deerling, Joltik climbed onto Spinarak, Shuckle joined Sigilyph, Zangoose was joined by Chinchou, and Magmar went with Stunfisk, leaving Absol and Espeon the last pair.

Latias looked around, "I see that everyone has a partner. Now I'll bring you to the challenge site. Follow me!"

As everyone left, Latios went to clean up the mess hall. As he was cleaning, he noticed a box on the floor. Curious, he picked it up. It had a label that said "Do not open!" but Latios ignored it and decided to open it anyway.

Not his best decision.

A boxing glove popped out, hitting him square in the eye. He cursed as he dropped the box and rubbed the sore spot, now a black eye.

**000**

**Latios: *holding a steak up to his black eye* Mark my words Rotom, I will have revenge!"**

**000  
><strong>

**Rotom: He has no idea you planted that one right?**

**Lampent: Yep, same with the last one. He might find out soon though.**

**Rotom: Don't worry, he's not that smart.**

**000  
><strong>

All of the Pokemon arrived at the base of the mountain and noticed the size, calling it big would have been an understatement. Most of the Pokemon gaped at the size; poor Deerling wanted to faint but was too shocked to do so. Latias then snapped them back into reality.

"Okay then, you are to follow this path up the mountain and onto the large and flat cliff about 2/3 the way up. All of you that can fly or float, you aren't allowed to go straight up to the cliff. You can however, fly over the mountain path but you still have to follow it. You'll proceed up the mountain in the pairs that you had formed and you are not allowed to interfere or attack other members going up, especially you Cryogonal, and quit charging up that Solarbeam."

"Shut up!" Cryogonal shouted, making most look at him with disdain.

**000**

**Cryogonal: How do they keep catching me? It's not like I do it often; it's just for laughs! Everyone is gonna get hurt eventually, why delay the inevitable?**

**000  
><strong>

"Alright then, get moving, it's a long trek up there, me and Latios will be waiting at the top!" And with that, Latias jetted upwards and left the competing Pokemon at the bottom as they went to climb the large mountain.

Lucario and Zoroark were walking up the mountain and were doing well; Lucario's aura had helped them avoid triggering traps. They were talking about their war council meeting with Bisharp after the third challenge.

"So Serperior is the king, Zangoose is the queen, Spiritomb is a knight, Magneton is a bishop and Altaria is a rook." Zoroark said. "Makes sense, many of their team members seem to look to him. Guess it's a good thing that I noticed he can be a tad overconfident."

"Yeah, that's probably going to be what will bring him down." Lucario said. For some reason though, he didn't seem too focused on the conversation.

"Hey, you alright?" Zoroark asked.

Lucario shook his head, "It's nothing."

**000**

**Lucario: During our last meeting with Bisharp, I felt two distinct auras watching us from afar. They felt familiar but I couldn't recognize them because they were too far away.**

**000  
><strong>

Behind them, Roserade and Gardevoir were following and trying to listen to the conversation the two Pokemon in front of them were having, but they only heard a couple words.

"Okay, rook, knight, king, queen, bishop? Is it just me or are they discussing chess?" Gardevoir asked.

Roserade nodded, "Now that you mention it, I did see a chessboard where they were gathered."

"Maybe they're just talking about chess strategies. No need for us to get to worried does it?"

Roserade shook her head, "But why would they be doing something like that in the dead of night and by the dock of all places? Why not in the middle of camp during the daytime? There's a reason I bet. W e should go back tonight to see if we can find out anything new."

Gardevoir nodded in agreement but sighed while Roserade was looking away.

**000**

**Gardevoir: Roserade is a good friend of mine but sometimes, she can be a little paranoid. She can't leave Magmar in our cabin alone without being assured that it won't be burned down.**

**000  
><strong>

Meanwhile, Spiritomb was riding on Persian's back, much to her annoyance.

"Why can't you use you psychic powers to lift me and you up to get up to the top? These stones are ruining my nail job" She asked.

"I don't want to completely exhaust my psychic power before we learn about the next part. Besides, I'm using my powers to stop all the traps you set off." Spiritomb said as he gestured behind them. A trail of arrows, rocks, broken machine parts and other random bits of junk were on the ground behind them.

Persian just huffed.

**000**

**Spiritomb: Maybe bringing in Persian into our alliance wasn't a good idea; she expects to be treated like a queen wherever she goes. That worries me; she might slip out the fact that she's in an alliance with us. But at the same time, her attitude has proven to be unpopular with everyone else so I can foresee that she'll be leaving us soon. It's a gamble, but it will prove useful.**

**000  
><strong>

**Persian: *Checking out her nails and frowning* Can someone bring me a nail file and some nail polish?**

**000  
><strong>

**Cloyster: *Laughs* That girl is as clueless as a lost Spinda with no sense of direction, a torn map and a broken compass!**

**000  
><strong>

It had been an hour since the challenge started and most were halfway up the mountain. Near the end were Absol and Espeon, the latter was trying to engage in a friendly conversation with the former.

"So why do you distance yourself from everyone?" Espeon asked.

"I don't want to talk about it, nor do I want to talk." Absol responded.

"But you're talking right now."

"That's because I want you to stop talking to me."

"Then stop pushing me away! I'm trying to help!"

"But I don't want any help."

As they continued arguing, they didn't notice a small trap they had triggered. A couple of rocks shot out from the mountain side towards the two. They noticed the rocks and tried to jump over them. Both were able to dodge in time but Espeon slipped on a rock as she landed and fell. Absol walked over to check up on her.

"You okay?" He asked, his voice still as calm as before.

Espeon got up but winced for a moment, "I'm fine but I think I bruised my back paw when I landed."

Absol sighed, it would have been hard for her to continue walking and they were already behind. He laid down on the ground."Get on." He said as he made a small gesture with his head. "I'll carry you up."

Espeon got onto Absol's back and they resumed their walk up the mountain.

**000**

**Espeon: *smiling* I knew his heart wasn't completely made of ice.**

**000  
><strong>

Fifteen minutes later, they were continuing up the mountain at the same pace. Absol then stopped for a moment and looked around.

"What's wrong?" Espeon asked.

"Not here." He mumbled under his breath. He looked back towards Espeon. "Hold on tight, I'm picking up our pace."

Espeon grabbed hold and Absol began to sprint up the mountain path as fast as he could.

* * *

><p>Overhead, Sawk was riding on Altaria who was going at a smooth pace. Then they saw Absol running quickly.<p>

"What's up with him?" Sawk asked.

"Don't know." Altaria said. "But let's follow them. I saw Espeon on his back. Something must have happened."

"Agreed." Sawk said.

* * *

><p>Ahead, Deerling and Blitzle weren't making much progress, since Deerling got one of her legs stuck in a sticky substance after one of the traps had activated. Absol then arrived. Espeon looked up and saw why Absol had sped up. A couple of large boulders were rolling down on the side of the mountain and the two Pokemon in front of them were in the boulders' path.<p>

Absol shouted towards them, "Get out of the way you two; you're going to get crushed!"

"She can't!" Bitzle shouted. "She's stuck!"

Absol's gaze darkened, "Get off." He told Espeon.

"What?" She asked.

"I said get off!" He shouted in an even louder tone.

Espeon did as she was told but was unsure of the reason why. Absol crouched and began to sprint towards the two Pokemon. Espeon then realized what Absol was doing.

"Don't do it!" She shouted. But it was in vain. Absol jumped towards the Deerling and using his horn, slashed at the gummy substance that prevented her from moving. His body then collided with hers and the two hit the ground as the large boulder came crashing down behind them, hitting the paste and sticking to the ground.

The dust settled and Espeon looked worried, "Are you alright?" She shouted since she couldn't see the three other Pokemon.

"We're fine!" Blitzle shouted back. "Absol just saved us!"

Espeon sighed in relief.

* * *

><p>On the other side, Absol was looking at the two Pokemon he had just saved, "Good thing I was able to sense the boulders." He said as he looked at the large rock behind them. "Hopefully that's the worst there is."<p>

"I wouldn't be so sure about that ol' chum!"

Absol whirled around trying to find the source of the voice he had just heard.

"Ey! Down here you bloody mongrel!" The voice shouted.

Absol looked down to see a familiar face.

"Pineco?" He asked. He was surprised to see his old teammate as well as the first person voted off the island.

"That's right you sprog! The red one invited me back for this challenge and I'm about to get my revenge for what you did!" Pineco shouted as he began to glow. Absol immediately knew the significance. He ran over to the two other Pokemon as Pineco exploded.

* * *

><p>On the other side of the boulder, Espeon had heard the conversation. As soon as she heard the boom, her eyes widened in horror as her heart sank.<p>

"NO!" She cried.

* * *

><p>A little while later, Absol awoke. To his surprise, he was on Altaia's back.<p>

"Ugh, what happened?" He groaned. He felt a surging pain on his right side and he couldn't feel his back right leg, it felt broken.

"Oh good, you're awake." Altaria said as he looked back. "Don't worry too much about it; you just suffered some small injuries, that's all. Now rest, you'll need it."

"Mmm, thanks." Absol said as he relaxed and fell asleep.

**000**

**Altaria: Sawk and I saw everything from above. Just before Pineco exploded, Absol ran over to shield Deerling and Blitzle and took the brunt of the attack. Thankfully, he seemed to have used Endure. Once the dust settled, he was standing but then collapsed. Sawk broke the boulder easily so Espeon could move on. We then checked on Absol. He wasn't in a good shape. Espeon was shocked to see what had happened, I think she almost cried. Deerling and Blitzle took less damage than Absol but were shocked at what Absol did for them. Afterwards, we deiced it would be best if I took Absol with me up to the top, while Sawk would carry Espeon the rest of the way. I still can't believe it though; cold and distant Absol risking himself to help others. Now I feel bad, our team's idea of him was completely wrong.**

**000  
><strong>

At the cliff, Latios and Latias were chatting. Latios was now holding a bag of frozen Lum berries to his injured eye. He was scowling.

"I swear, I will have my revenge on Rotom. Stupid ghost will regret getting on my bad side." He growled.

Latias, meanwhile was sipping some juice, "You mean like the time Giratina trapped you in the Distortion World?"

Latios groaned at the memory.

**000**

**Latios: Sad part was, I had a map of the place too, just in case something liked that happened. The one day I don't bring it with me, the one day Giratina decides to throw me in there just to get a date with Dialga. I couldn't find the exit until a week later; stupid distortions caused me to backtrack half the time.**

**000  
><strong>

"Why don't ghost-types ever bother you though?" Latios asked.

"Maybe I'm too pretty that they don't want to bother me." Latias smugly said. Latios rolled his eyes in response.

"We're here!" Serperior shouted, carrying Feebas on his back.

Right behind them were Sigilyph and Shuckle. Sigilyph's eyes then widened at the size of the cliff.

"Whoa, this place is big." He said as he dropped Shuckle, who landed upside-down in the ground, as he floated over to the edge and looked down, and stayed there.

Magmar and Stunfisk arrived next, the latter bouncing off of the former who was very tired.

"Stupid…hoses…spraying…water." Magmar panted. She turned to Stunfisk. "Why…don't you… do the…running…next…time?"

"Gee, I'd love to but if you would care to notice my lack of legs, I am incapable of running you pyro. By the way, was it really necessary to burn everything you saw?" Stunfisk sarcastically replied.

"You want to get burned as well?" Magmar asked threateningly.

**000**

**Stunfisk: Yeah, it's really annoying when you're surrounded by idiots who don't even notice some people's lack of certain appendages. What's next, someone asking me to fly?**

**000  
><strong>

**Magmar: *Steaming mad* Stupid flounder thinks he's all that, pisses me off so bad that I want to burn something! ARGH! *She lets out jets of flame which starts to heat the metal room and it begins to melt***

**000  
><strong>

**Latias: *Room is now completely burned and half melted down*Due to a certain someone's anger issues, we've had to move the confession cam to another location for the rest of this challenge.**

**000  
><strong>

"Move it would you?" Said Zangoose who happened to be behind Magmar.

She was carrying Chinchou with relative ease and seemed to still have plenty of strength in her.

Behind her came Bisharp and Kingdra followed by Cloyster and Cryogonal, with Cloyster cackling about how their team's victory would be assured like candy taken from a Togepi that hadn't hatched. Joltik and Spinarak happily arrived, with Rotom and Lampent behind them. Rotom looked at Latios and chuckled.

"What happened to you? Get hit by a bus?" He said as he laughed.

Latios growled, "No, but I know someone who will be."

Meanwhile, Magneton, Klink and Aron arrived with Aron flailing around on one of Magneton's magnets which he was stuck to. Zoroark and Lucario arrived next, followed by Roserade and Gardevoir. When Altaria arrived, many were shocked to see an injured Absol on her back. Latias floated over to see what the commotion was about.

"What in the name of Arceus is going on-oh." She saw Absol who was heavily wounded. She just shook her head. "I never thought that something like this would happen. Just lay him down by Latios for now, he can't participate in the next challenge."

Altaria nodded in response. She flew over and softly let him down onto the rocky surface. Meanwhile, a majority of the Lugias came over.

"What happened?" Feeas asked .

Altaria just shook her head, "I'll tell you guys after the challenge."

Serperior nodded, "That's fine, if I were in your position, I wouldn't want to either."

**000**

**Bisharp: *Now in a tool shed* I heard the full story from Blitzle; Absol willingly sacrificed himself in order to protect others. During the last couple of challenges, he never did anything flashy like that. I wonder what brought about the change; I need more info on this. Luckily, I had someone observe him from the very start. Why are we in the tool shed anyway?**

**Latias: *outside* Blame it on Magmar.**

**000  
><strong>

While they were conversing, all the remaining Pokemon arrived. Espeon however, had run over to see how Absol was doing. She still seemed pretty depressed about what had happened, though Blitzle, Deerling and Sawk all tried to cheer her up along the way up the mountain. Persian also wanted to see what happened but Spiritomb stopped her.

"Leave him." He said. "If we show sympathy, then we will get caught up with the others and soon our alliance will be found out. We want to win, which means staying secretive and avoiding the others."

Persian frowned in disapproval but went with him anyway.

Latias then gathered everyone to the center of the cliff, "Alright everyone, its challenge time and Cryogonal, you're going to like it. You'll be attacking the other team!"

Many gasped while some of the more violent Pokemon grinned, especially Cryogonal.

Latias continued, "Each team will get a certain area to stay in on two different sides of the cliff. From that side, you'll use your attacks to try to somehow, force the opposing team's members out of their boundary area. If you get pushed out, you are to stand outside of your box on the left side and you can't get back in the game. In order to win, all of the opposing team's members have to be knocked out of their boundary. Everyone understand?" All the Pokemon nodded. "Alright then, Lugias, your area is surround with silver paint, Ho-Oh's you guys stand in the area enclosed by gold paint. When I blow my whistle, you shall begin."

The Pokemon went to the respective sides and waited. Latias then blew her whistle.

Almost immediately, Cryogonal fired off a Solarbeam at the opposing team while Cloyster was shooting Icicle Spears. They laughed as they watched the other team scramble around trying to avoid getting hit while the rest of the Lugias stood back watching them, though with some slight distaste. The Lugias tried to use attacks of their own but were stopped by the attacks of the other team. This continued on for 10 minutes. Afterwards, only Bisharp, Sigilyph, Lucario, Espeon, Spinarak and Magmar were left, Sigilyph floating in the back corner looking down the cliffside.

**000**

**Spiritomb: It seems that we will finally win a challenge.**

**000  
><strong>

**Magneton: BZZT. CHANCES OF VICTORY, 100%. SEARCHING VICTORY PHRASE BANK. *Voice takes a slightly deeper tone* Winning!**

**000  
><strong>

Meanwhile, Absol had just started to wake up. "Ugh, what happened to me?"

Latias looked over, "You were hurt pretty badly on your way up the mountain so we decided to sit you out of the challenge. You can just watch."

Absol nodded and continued to watch his teammates.

Then he felt it.

He perked up and looked around, worry in his eyes.

"Cryogonal, Cloyster, stop!" He shouted.

They couldn't hear him. This was bad, the others didn't know what was happening, only he did. He tried to get the two Pokemon's attentions again.

"Cryogonal, Cloyster, stop!" He shouted louder.

They still couldn't hear him as they continued to attack the other team.

He stood up, though he was shaking as his wounds ached was unable to stand on his right hind leg. He tried once last time to get his teammate's attention.

"Cryogonal, Cloyster, listen to-."

Too late.

As Cryogonal's Solarbeam hit the rocky surface, everyone heard a rumbling sound, as if there was an earthquake. Latios and Latias eyes widened as they realized what was going on.

"Oh no, please don't tell me-." Latias said.

CRACK!

The cliff split off from the side of the mountain and the cliff itself split itself into many large pieces.

All of the Pokemon took a second to register what had happened and when they did, it was not pretty.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

They screamed as the ground underneath them disappeared and they walked on air.

Latias began to panic while Latios just looked in horror. "Oh no, oh no, oh no. What are we going to do? They're going to fall to their deaths, they'll cancel the show, we're going to get sued, I'm gonna' go to jail, LATIOS I AM FREAKING OUT!" She screamed as she began to hyperventilate.

Meanwhile, Absol saw everything in front of him, his eyes wide with shock. He had felt the cliff giving away; he tried to warn them but was ignored. An image flashed in his head as he looked on. He shook it off, paused, then backed up a little bit and crouched.

He ran towards the edge and leaped.

Latios saw what Absol did and tried to stop him, but it had no effect and Latios cursed, "Dammit! Are all teenagers this stupid?" He shook his head, and then began to concentrate. Using telepathy, he spoke to Latias, "Calm down, I know something we can do. Hear me out…"

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, everyone was falling and they heard a voice in their head. Latios was using telepathy to talk to everyone.<p>

"All of you, calm down! Find somewhere place your feet. Everyone that can fly or float, even you Rotom, grab as many people as you can and come back up. If you can, jump around and find a ledge to stay on. Me and Latias will fly down to pick you guys up."

"We will?" Latias interrupted.

"Yes we will." Latios answered. "You maggots are on your own! Blue Eon out!"

Latias looked at her brother. "You're not a secret agent Latios."

Latios looked at her, "Says you." And with that, he took off with his sister behind him, shaking her head.

* * *

><p>In the air, Bisharp, Zangoose, Magmar, Roserade, Lucario and Zoroark were jumping from rock to rock. All of them were carrying one Pokemon except for Zoroark. He happened to see Gardevoir struggling and decided to jump over.<p>

"Need a little help?" he asked.

Gardevoir smiled, "Thanks."

Zoroark noticed a couple of scratch and bruise marks on her left leg, "Hey, are you okay? Your leg doesn't seem to be doing so well."

She looked at him and smiled, "Thanks for worrying, but its fine, I'm sure it."

"No need to push yourself." Zoroark said. "Here, let me help out a bit." He turned around and crouched. "Get on my back, I'll carry you the rest of the way."

Gardevoir was a bit reluctant, but obliged anyway. She climbed on and put her arms around Zoroark's neck. He then took off, jumping from rock to rock.

**000**

**Gardevoir: That was really nice of Zoroark to do that, now I feel bad that me and Roserade are spying on him and the other guys.**

**000  
><strong>

Serperior was able to create a bridge with his body allowing for Feebas to go upward; Altaria was carrying Sawk, Cloyster and Kingdra; Cryogonal carried Spiritomb's rock; while Rotom and Lampent floated up carrying other Pokemon.

Only one Pokemon was going down, Absol. He needed to make sure everyone was safe; he knew everyone would probably pin this disaster on him, so he needed to find a way to make that wrong a right.

He passed by Magneton and noticed Aron and Klink trying to find their way through the mess.

"Hey Magneton!" He shouted, catching the Magnet Pokemon's attention.

"BZZT. IDENTIFYING SPEAKER. SPEAKER IS ABSOL. SPEAKER IN CRITICAL CONDITION. BZZT"

"Never mind that. Use your magnets to get Aron and Klink and go back up. I need to check on something."

Magneton did as he was told while Absol continued to jump downwards.

He then saw Espeon's figure and jumped toward it. When he reached her he saw Shuckle trying to wake her up. He knew Espeon wouldn't wake up for now, she got hit by Cryogonal's last Solarbeam before everyone started falling and most likely fainted.

"Come on Espeon, wake up, we're falling!" Shuckle was rocking Espeon's body back and forth.

"She can't hear you right now." Absol said, making Shuckle jump a little. "Just help get her on my back, I'll make sure we get back up there." However, they were plummeting fast; Absol could see some of the trees below them.

He made a quick decision. Using his mouth, he grabbed Shuckle's shell, and threw her upward as hard as he could.

Absol was about to jump to a nearby rock but he felt a surge of pain in his broken leg which caused him to collapse. He tried to get back up but then saw the trees only 50 feet away.

"DAMMIT!" He shouted as he and Espeon plummeted to the ground.

* * *

><p>Espeon woke up and looked around. She was in an unfamiliar place; there were a couple of beds and tables in the room she was in. Her head hurt a little but besides that, she felt no other pain.<p>

"Are you alright?" An unfamiliar voice asked.

Espeon turned around to see a pink and yellow Pokemon with a nurse's cap approach her.

"Hello." She said. "I'm Audino. I'm the island's nurse. This is the medical tent where we treat all wounds and any sicknesses you may receive while you're here. I heard about what happened to you and your friend."

Espeon was confused. She couldn't remember a thing. All she could remember was that she got hit by a Solarbeam attack and after that, she couldn't remember a single thing.

Audino nodded, "I'm not surprised you don't remember anything, when you were brought here, you had fainted and had to be carried in. I think your friends might be able to fill you in on what happened."

Audino motioned for a couple Pokemon to come over; Espeon recognized them immediately, Altaria, Kingdra, Shuckle and Sawk, who had a slight bump on his head.

Altaria smiled, "Glad to see you're awake. We were worried."

Espeon sat up, "Mmmm, what happened? I only remember getting hit by Solarbeam. By the way, what happened to the challenge?"

"Let us fill you in first." Sawk said.

They told her what happened, how the cliff broke off from the mountain and what everyone had to do in order to get back up. They then told her about what Absol did.

"Wait, Absol came down from the top of the mountain to get me, even though he was heavily injured?" Espeon asked, flabbergasted.

Kingdra nodded, "I was surprised too. Shuckle told us everything."

"After hitting me in the head." Sawk interrupted, pointing at the bump.

"Yeah, he threw me back up but I didn't know what happened to you two." Shuckle said. "I told everyone else and we all went down in search of you two."

"We found both of you in a small clearing." Altaria continued. "Both of you had fallen through some trees but we didn't see a scratch on you. Absol wasn't looking to good though, even if he didn't have those burns he seemed like a mess."

"Absol!" Espeon then realized. "Where is he? I don't see him here." She was worried about him after hearing about all that had happened today.

"Don't worry." Audino said with a smile. "I fixed his burns, broken leg, bruises and other wounds. I'm really surprised how quickly he recovered though. He's outside resting under the shade at the moment."

Espeon jumped down from her bed and went outside to see Absol resting in his signature spot. He had a couple of bandages though his leg was being held by a wooden splint.

She walked over and Absol quickly noted her presence.

"Thank you for what you did for me." Espeon said as she laid down next to him.

"Hmph, it was nothing." He said in response.

"But I have to ask, why did you come help me even though you endangered yourself for me?""

"I don't need a reason, I'm a lone wolf, I do what I feel like doing."

"Really? I think it's because you care about others."

Absol then yawned, "Think what you like, I don't care. I'm taking a nap now." And with that, he went to sleep.

Espeon sat up and smiled. He just needed a little more time, but she was sure he would begin to open up in no time.

"Seems that you two are getting along better." Kingdra said as he, Sawk, Altaria and Shuckle walked over.

"Yeah, I guess. Now, about the challenge..." Espeon asked.

"We won." Shuckle answered. "When the cliff broke off, apparently the corner where Sigilyph was didn't fall with the rest of us and therefore, he was the last one in the boundary which gave us the win."

"I see." Espeon said. Then her eyes widened. "Wait, doesn't that mean Absol will be leaving since your team lost?" She asked Sawk and Altaria.

Altaria frowned, "Yes, unfortunately."

"But he helped me out, he helped Aron and Klink out, he even saved Deerling and Blitzle on the way up the mountain! Please don't tell me he's leaving because of that!"

"We know." Sawk said. "And we're very against it."

"Huh?" Espeon was very confused.

"The positives have outweighed the negatives in this situation." Kingdra explained. "Deerling and Blitzle know what he did for them, and both Sawk and Altaria saw it happen. Magneton, Klink and Aron know how he tries to ensure everyone's safety. And from Shuckle, everyone learned how he thinks about others before himself. Absol has contributed more than enough to gain trust and recognition from the rest of his team."

"Which is why me and Sawk are trying to convince our team to vote someone else off tonight." Altaria continued. "Absol didn't cause the cliff to break off the mountain; Serperior noticed that he even tried to warn us. After what's happened today, I think most of us believe we've misjudged Absol and he deserves to stay."

Espeon let out a sigh of relief, "Thanks everyone." She said to the four Pokemon in front of her. "Altaria, Sawk, Shuckle, why don't you three take Absol and go back to the center of camp."

The three Pokemon nodded. Sawk hoisted Absol's body onto Altaria's back and he and Shuckle climbed on. Altaria then took off back to the center of camp.

As the two Pokemon watched them leave, Espeon asked Kingdra a question, "I understand why Sawk, Shuckle and Altaria were here, but I don't quite understand why you are."

Kingdra let out a chuckle, "Well, like you, I've been observing Absol for a little while, though unlike you, I haven't engaged in one-on-one conversation with him. But you," He said looking at Espeon. "You're the only person who has been able to stay in a conversation with him for over 30 seconds. I don't know how you're doing it but you're getting through to him. He has a mask that covers a secret, and you'll be the one to remove it." And with that little, Kingdra left Espeon to ponder what he had just said.

* * *

><p>That night, the 14 Lugias were gathered around the campfire pit. Absol was still wrapped in his bandages, while some were glaring at him.<p>

**000**

**Absol: Our team lost so I know I'll be going home today. I don't regret anything though.**

**000  
><strong>

"Lugias, here again, I am disappointed in you but with what happened today, I'm not surprised. Anyway, if you hear your name, come on up. First to receive a Poffin is Zangoose."

She calmly got off her seat and got her treat from Latios.

"Serperior, Feebas, Chinchou and Magneton, you guys are also safe tonight." The four Pokemon went to get their Poffins.

"Sawk, Persian, Spiritomb, Altaria and Deerling, you'll be staying." The five Pokemon went to get their poffins. Only Aron, Absol, Cloyster and Cryogonal were left.

"Aron, you didn't receive any votes so you're also safe tonight."

Aron happily jumped off his seat and went to get his Poffin.

Latias turned back to the three Pokemon that had not been called up, "All three of you received votes tonight." Spiritomb frowned at this, how could his alliance members have gotten votes? He was sure that the team would have voted for Absol. No matter, there was no chance that either one of them would be leaving. Absol's time was up.

Latias continued, "Absol, you're here because of the deal you made with you and your team last time. Cryogonal and Cloyster, you two are both here for contributing to the destruction of today's challenge site and endangering almost everyone here." Cloyster looked sheepish while Cryogonal's eyes narrowed.

"The Lugia with the least amount of votes was…Cloyster." Cloyster got off his seat and cackled. "See, my safety is assured like a dummy at a nuclear testing site! You'll be safe my hot and chilly comrade of mine!"

Latias ignored Cloyster and continued, "Absol, Cryogonal, one of you is leaving us tonight. There was a one vote difference between both of you." Now Spiritomb was nervous. He might lose a key member in his alliance! But why? Everyone agreed to vote off Absol before, what brought about the change?

"And the Pokemon that is staying is…"

…

…

…

…

…

…

"Absol."

There was a brief moment of silence, then eruption.

"WHAT? HOW COULD YOU VOTE ME OFF!" Cryogonal roared. Obviously, he wasn't taking his elimination well.

**000**

**Serperior: Today, most of us decided to vote off either Cryogonal or Cloyster. Even though we lost, Absol sacrificed himself in order to help out others. That selfless act right there showed us that he still belonged. So, I voted Cryogonal.**

**000  
><strong>

**Zangoose: I voted for Cloyster, stupid psycho shellfish.**

**000  
><strong>

**Sawk: I'm voting Cryogonal, his destructive behavior almost killed us, and not just today too.**

**000  
><strong>

**Altaria: I voted Cryogonal, I just don't like how his reckless behavior is endangering everyone.**

**000  
><strong>

**Absol: I voted myself, I knew that everyone was going to vote for me, so why bother trying to change anything.**

**000  
><strong>

**Spiritomb: Me and the rest of the alliance voted for Absol, he made the deal but he just couldn't deliver the results.**

**000  
><strong>

**Magneton: BZZT. VOTING FOR CRYOGONAL. REASONING. HE WILL DESTROY US ALL. BZZT.**

**000  
><strong>

**Feebas: Me and Chinchou both voted Cloyster. He's weird.**

**000  
><strong>

**Deerling: Umm, I v-voted for Cyogonal. H-he scares m-me.**

**000  
><strong>

**Aron: I voted Cryogonal, I just don't like him.**

**000  
><strong>

"Well Cryogonal, you've been eliminated. Goodbye!" Latias said as she smiled. Inside, she was relieved. The costs to repair the damage Cryogonal did almost went up to 6 digits.

Cryogonal let out a frustrated roar that shook the island.

**000**

**Cryogonal: I can't believe this! Fourth person voted off. FOURTH! I'm so mad that just want to destroy this stupid island! Those stupid idiots don't know anything. I'll just send them to hell myself! Spiritomb, Cloyster, you two better get rid of Persian like you said and avenge me!**

**000  
><strong>

Absol was walking back to his cabin when he saw Espeon looking at him from nearby.

"So, how did it go?" She asked.

"Seems my teammates have given me another chance." He said as he walked off. Espeon just smiled.

**000**

**Absol: I'm really surprised with the elimination's outcome. I better thank my team, but I still won't consider them friends, not yet anyway.**

**000**

**Espeon: I'm really thankful that Absol is still here and I hope he continues to stay. Like Kingdra said, I just need to find out what's under his mask.**

**000**

Meanwhile, the rest of Team Eclipse had gathered in a small clearing. Spritomb was shaking his head.

"This is not good." He said in a grave voice. "We've already lost a member and this early in the game. We need to find who had voted for both you and Cryogonal." He said, directing his attention to Cloyster.

"Don't worry about that actually." Persian said

Spiritomb was surprised. Did Persian actually do something?

"The only other person that voted for Absol was himself." She said. "I just happened to be listening to how everyone else had voted before the campfire ceremony."

Spiritomb's eyes widened for a moment then they narrowed. "This isn't good." He said. "Right now, there seem to be two different voting blocs." Using his psychic powers he picked up a stick and drew on the ground. "There's us, and then there's everyone else." As he drew two circles representing the two different voting blocs. "As you can see, compared to us, their voting bloc is huge, so we need to split it. Make them vote in our favor but not to a point that they know we are manipulating them."

Cloyster then smiled, "That should be a piece of pie-cake."

Spiritomb nodded, "Yes, we can easily split the voting bloc now due to our losing streak. But at the same time, we are at a severe disadvantage with the other team number wise. I think by winning a few challenges and showing how useful we are can be helpful."

"Why's that?" Asked Persian.

"Because, they'll be able to trust us even more and listen to us." Spiritomb reasoned. "That will make them less suspicious of us and easier for us to split their voting bloc. When we get back into another losing streak, that's when we'll execute our plan, got it?"The two Pokemon in front of him nodded. "Good. Meeting adjourned."

**000**

**Spiritomb: What Persian doesn't know is that the first person that I'll vote off when we strike is her. She's been useful with that info but besides that, I doubt she'll have any further use. So it's basically just me and Cloyster now, unless I can bring in other people, which is also unlikely.**

**000  
><strong>

By the beach, Bisharp's war council was having a meeting.

"So, they voted off Cryogonal?" Zoroark told Bisharp what had happened at the campfire ceremony. Zoroark had blended in with the trees in order to spy on what happened. "Surprise, surprise, I never thought they would remove a powerful player this early. I would say he probably was a knight." Bisharp then removed a knight piece from the chess board that had been set up. Currently, three black pawns and a black knight had been removed from the board.

"Hmm, the info we have on the other team is sufficient for now, but I'm concerned with our own team. Besides us, we don't know who fills the other positions." Bisharp said with a bit of concern.

"If I may," Kingdra interrupted. "I think I've found the second of our rooks."

"And who might that be?" Bisharp asked.

"Espeon."

"Why her?"

"She's the type of character that gets along well with others. She is persistent, which can be seen with her interactions with Absol." Kingdra reasoned.

"I see, that does make sense." Bisharp said. "I might put her as a knight, but I feel someone else on our team is better suited for that position."

"Speaking of Absol, I believe, he's the other team's wild card."

Bisharp smiled, "I see your observations have paid off."

Kingdra nodded. "It was clear as soon as Shuckle told us the story."

Bisharp then took out a list and pencil, "Alright, let me just write that everything we got down."

As Bisharp wrote, Lucario felt someone watching them. He quickly turned around but saw nothing but greenery.

"Something wrong?" Zoroark asked.

Lucario paused, "It's nothing…just the wind."

Bisharp frowned a little bit but continued.

* * *

><p>In the bushes, Gardevoir and Roserade were crouched down.<p>

"That was a close one." Gardevoir said. "Next time, can we find somewhere farther away to spy on them?"

"No. If we move farther, we won't be able to hear their conversation, and I can barely hear it now." Roserade reasoned.

"Fine, but still, I really don't think they are doing anything harmful." Gardevoir said peeking out from the bushes.

"You never know." Roserade said. "Never judge a book by its cover. Come on, I think they're leaving."

And the two left the bushes to head back to their cabin.

* * *

><p>Whew, interesting chapter don't you think? And so far the longest one too, though it seems that most of it isn't about the challenge, rather it's about what happened afterward.<p>

I bet that little twist I put with the elimination sure shocked you all didn't it. Yep, Absol is staying, at the expense of Cryogonal. He will be missed.

So Spiritomb seems to have another plan going even with Cryogonal's leave, but he still plans to eliminate Persian somehow.

Yeah, I brought Pineco back for a small cameo appearance. I might just bring back random eliminated contestants for a challenge or two but that's it, so you might get to see some old favorites again.

Fun Fact: With Cryogonal, my original idea was to have him be borderline sadistic but I scrapped it as I couldn't develop his personality that quickly in such a short amount of time. So I just went with a destructive and reckless nature instead.

I did put references in here though they might not be noticeable, ah well.

**Cryogonal: Review or I will destroy you all!**

* * *

><p><strong>Next Time: Campers get geared up for a summer camp classic and one team soars above while the other crashes and burns.<strong>


	6. Fight for the Flag!

Heya! I'm back with another great chapter!

Starting this chapter, there will be recaps from previous chapters. I find it fun summarizing my stories into a couple sentences. Latias or Latios will do the recap as I will alternate between the two.

I've been unable to write this story for a while due to travel and I might have to take another break due to camps. So I'm sorry in advance for delays.

Alright, story time!

* * *

><p>"Last time on Pokemon Drama Island!" Latias shouted facing the camera. "Our campers faced our most dangerous challenge yet, and narrowly lost their lives! Absol had made a deal with his team from the previous challenge that if they lost, he would leave. As usual, the Lugias lost but during the challenge, Absol had saved 4 other Pokemon, causing some of his team members question their initial thoughts about him. In a majorly surprising elimination, Cryogonal was voted off by a margin of one vote. Due to this, Spiritomb devised a new plan in order to take control of the votes and get farther in the game. Will he succeed? Tune in to find out on a brand new Pokemon. Drama. Island!"<p>

* * *

><p>Altaria was relaxing on the dock. It was a bright and sunny day and the humming Pokemon decided to take a break and get away from everything else. Absol had recently gotten better and now Espeon was hanging around him wherever he went. She had a good reason to follow him around, much to his annoyance.<p>

"Fine day isn't it?" Asked Kingdra as he swam by.

Altaria nodded in response, "Very much." She said.

"Kahkahkah! Flop of the belly variety!" Cloyster shouted as he flew in the air and landed in the water with a large splash. He then began to float while laughing manically.

Altaria frowned at the display, "Sometimes, I worry about him. Sometimes."

"Well they do say the insane might be the sanest of us all." Kingdra mused.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that." Altaria said as she pointed a wing at what Cloyster was doing. He was face down in the water with bubbles surrounding him. It seemed like he was trying to drown himself. He popped back up with a laugh and then went back to his previous position.

Kingdra blinked a couple times before coming up with a reply, "Well, that theory has been completely blown out of the water." As soon as Kingdra said the last lines, Cloyster shot out of the water, cackling as he launched upwards and fell back down.

Kingdra looked at Cloyster than at Altaria, "Yeah, I take back what I said earlier, he's just crazy." He said bluntly.

Altaria laughed and the intercom blared.

"Everyone, this is Latios! All of you report to the entrance of the woods, Latias is going to announce the next challenge! And to the wise guy who put poison ivy in my dishwashing gloves, you'll regret it! And by wise guy, I mean Rotom!"

The two dragon types then saw Rotom float by innocently with Lampent by his side.

**000**

**Rotom: Okay, that was me this time, though it was a pain looking for poison ivy on this island;. When's Latios gonna' get back at me anyway? Betcha he's all bark and no bite. Well, least he admitted I'm wise.**

**000  
><strong>

**Latios: *Hands now red and swollen, pointing at the camera* Rotom, you will rue the day you crossed my path!**

**000  
><strong>

Altaria got up and stretched her wings, "Well, we better get going. As much as I want to stay here, I think missing the challenge isn't a good idea. You coming?" She asked, directing her attention to Kingdra.

Kingdra got out of the water and onto the beach, "Yes, let's go."

* * *

><p>The two soon arrived at the forest and saw the rest of the competing members who were chatting amongst themselves. Latias then cleared her voice and spoke into Latios's megaphone.<p>

"Hello? This thing on?" A little screech answered her question. "Alright good. Attention! Attention all remaining competitors!" This got everyone's attention and they turned toward Latias.

"Alright, today's challenge is going to simple due to the fact that last time, you all almost lost your lives. It's the good old summer camp classic, capture the flag." A chorus of murmurs was heard amongst the Pokemon.

"The goal is the same," Latias continued. "Find and bring the opposing team's flag to your side. Lugia's, you guys have the northern part of the forest while Ho-Ohs get the southern area. There's a red line that signifies the boundary between both areas."

Latias took out a piece of silver cloth, "Everyone is to hold a special piece of cloth somewhere on their body."

"Are you sure that's a piece of cloth? It looks like a napkin!" Shouted Stunfisk from the back.

Latias teleported to Stunfisk and looked him in the straight in the eyes. With a cross look on her face and an angry tone of voice, Latias whispered, "Quiet, or we're having fried flounder for dinner tonight." She then teleported back to her original position with a smile on her face. Stunfisk, however, had a look of horror on his.

**000**

**Stunfisk: It's official, our host is bipolar. But you know what, I'll call it "bitch mode", much more fitting.**

**000**

Latias continued. "This cloth is resistant to everything known in the Pokemon world so they can't be destroyed in any way. Lugias your cloth is silver, Ho-Ohs you guys get gold-colored ones. If your cloth is taken by an opposing team member, you are to take your cloth and go the opposing team's jail, located in a clearing in your part of the woods. When you're in jail, you are to the cloth back on and wait until someone frees you. When you are freed, you get a free pass back to your side but as soon as you cross the line, you can go back and try to steal the flag again. During the game, you can use any attacks you want as long as no one suffers any huge injuries. No burning down the forest either, especially you Magmar." Latias said directing her attention to the fire-type. Latias still hadn't forgiven Magmar for burning down the confessional during the previous challenge.

Latias then continued, "First team to get the opposite team's flag wins. Any questions?" Latias looked around to see if there were any hands raised. "No? Great. Both teams get into position you guys have 10 minutes to discuss strategy and hide your flag. When the air horn goes off, the game shall begin. And before I forget, I and Latios will be watching your every move so that there's no cheating. If we catch you, you're automatically out of the game. Alright, best of luck to all of you." Both teams went their separate ways into the woods.

* * *

><p>The Ho-Ohs had gathered in the small clearing in their part of the woods. Bisharp had taken command.<p>

"Alright, we've been doing well so far. 4 challenges in and we haven't lost one yet. Let's keep this up." He said to his team. "Now, here's the game plan: We need one person to defend the flag, anyone here know Light Screen and Reflect?" Only Sigilyph raised a hand. "Alright, you'll set up a wall of Light Screens and Reflects on our flag and keep watch on them."

Bisharp turned his attention toward the two other psychics on the team, "Gardevoir and Espeon, I want you two to hide somewhere by the boundary line. This way, you can see who crosses, and alert us through telepathy."

He then looked at Zoroark, "Zoroark, you're our main player as your Illusion ability will be very useful. Transform into a member of the other team and try to find out where their flag is. You can go steal it if you want but you don't have to, just tell us where the flag's located and the rest of us will look for it. Everyone else, defend, attack, do whatever, just try not to get caught by the other team and make sure our flag stays safe."

**000**

**Bisharp: My leadership in the third challenge really helped out and gave us the win; hopefully it'll give us another.**

**000  
><strong>

Meanwhile, the Lugias were huddled together; Spiritomb this time had taken a leadership position.

"Alright, we've lost the first four challenges, it isn't the end of the world yet, we just need to win this one and with our skills, I am confident that it'll be our victory." He said toward his team.

He then spoke to Cloyster, "Cloyster, you hold onto the flag. Make sure you hide it inside your shell where few can see it. Walk around on our side and pretend you don't know where the flag is."

Cloyster laughed, "Alright, I'll make sure it's as visible as a Sudowoodo imitating a tree by a waterfall!" Many looked at him strangely.

**000**

**Absol: Why does that sound so familiar…**

**000  
><strong>

**Feebas: *scratches her head with a fin* I think that this decision was a mistake.**

**000  
><strong>

"Alright, back to business." Spiritomb continued, "I think the biggest threat on the other team is Zoroark; his Illusion ability allows him to copy our physical forms so he might trick us into giving him info. Just be on high alert and watch for anything suspicious. I would recommend that those that are faster can try and steal the other team's flag while the rest of us stay here and tag the other team's members. Once we learn the location of their flag, meet with me and we'll find out how to get it. Now scatter."

**000**

**Spiritomb: Last time Serperior took charge, we didn't do so well, so I feel that I'm a better leader in general. But looking back, it wasn't his fault; the other team made statues of Regirock. Since when has flattery gotten you somewhere?**

**000  
><strong>

Both teams got in position. An air horn sounded and the game was on.

* * *

><p>Sawk had crept across and tried to stay hidden. As he walked, he didn't know about the three bug-types in the bushes. Spinarak and Joltik used String Shot on Sawk's legs, tying them together. Sawk noticed a little too late.<p>

"Woah, ah, gack!" He said as he fell and got a face-full of dirt.

"Bombs away!" Shouted a voice above him.

Sawk looked up, just in time for Shuckle and her shell to drop right on his face, rendering him unconscious, as Jolitk and Spinarak crawled out of the bushes.

"Sweet! We got him!" Cheered Spinarak. "Quick, find and grab his cloth!" Joltik nodded and crawled around Sawk, looking for the gold material.

"But now that he's unconscious, how are we going to get him to the jail?" Shuckle asked with concern.

The two looked at each other and then at Sawk's body.

"Not it!" They both shouted at the same time.

At the very moment, Joltik emerged from underneath the body, "Hey, I found the cloth! It was inside his gi." The two girls turned toward him with grins on their faces. "Hey, uh, what's going on? Why are you looking at me like that?" He questioned.

Seconds later, Joltik found himself dragging Sawk's unconscious body through the woods.

**000**

**Joltik: Note to self; when girls stare at you strangely, run away immediately as far as possible.**

**000  
><strong>

**Spinarak: I kinda feel bad that me and Shuckle made Joltik carry Sawk's body, but I didn't want to do it, so, sorry!**

**000**

Meanwhile Zoroark was walking through the Lugia's side of the woods disguised as Zangoose. He wanted to make sure that the Pokemon he transformed into didn't stay behind. Since Gardevoir told the team that Zangoose had crossed the boundary line, he was confident that she wouldn't return for a while. He saw Magneton floating around and decided to approach him.

"Hey, Magneton, what are you doing?" Zoroark asked, mimicking Zangoose's voice.

"BZZT. IDENTIFYING SPEAKER." Magneton turned around to see Zangoose in front of him. "BZZT. VISUAL SENSORS CONFRIM SPEAKER AS ZANGOOSE. CONDUCTING THERMAL SCAN."

Zoroark raised an eyebrow at this, a thermal scan? What, was Magneton going take his temperature?

Magneton's eyes dilated and shrank as he continued to float. "BZZT. THERMAL SCAN COMPLETE. COMPARING RESULTS WITH ACTUAL ZANGOOSE BODY STRUCTURE."

Zoroark's, still looking like Zangoose, eyes widened, this couldn't go well.

"BZZT. COMPARISON COMPLETE. RESULTS: THERMAL SCAN DOES NOT MATCH WITH ACTUAL BODY STRUCTURE. CONCLUSION: SPEAKER IS NOT ZANGOOSE, SPEAKER IS ZOROARK. ENEMY! ACTIVATING CHASE MUSIC. BZZT." Old black & white cartoon music was heard as Magneton's magnets began to flash red and blue as he closed in on Zoroark who bolted in the opposite direction.

**00**0

**Magneton: THERMAL SCAN CHECK SUCCESS RATE: 100%. SEARCHING WITTY COMMENT DATABASE: LOL**

**000**

Magneton continued to pursue Zoroark through the woods, the distance between the two slowly closing. Zoroark suddenly jumped and turned around to face Magneton.

"Activate voice command!" He shouted.

Magneton stopped dead in his tracks his eyes shrank, "BZZT. ACTIVATING VOICE COMMAND SYSTEM. WHAT ARE YOUR ORDERS? BZZT."

Zoroark smiled, "First, I want you to stop chasing Zoroark and head back towards the small clearing. Second, wait three minutes then deactivate voice command."

Magneton did as told and floated back to where he originally was as Zoroark let out a sigh of relief.

**000**

**Zoroark: Luckily, one of my jobs had me study certain traits of evolution lines. For example, Magnemite and its evolved forms always have a voice command system within them. Never learned the reason why though, had to quit due to…certain circumstances.**

**000  
><strong>

In the Lugia's neck of the woods, Zangoose was running around trying to find the Lugia's flag.

"Ow!" A voice cried from nearby.

Zangoose quickly stopped and looked around, trying to find the source of the voice. Klink took this opportunity and quickly floated out of the bushes in front of her.

"Sorry, but this is as far you go." The gears said in unison.

"Hmph who's gonna stop me? You?"

"Nope, me." A voice said behind her.

She quickly turned around to see Stunfisk at her feet. "By the way, thanks for stepping on me." He said in a sarcastic tone as he lifted a gold piece of cloth. Zangoose's eyes widened.

"Yeah, not the best idea to tie it around your leg where someone like me could get it." Zangoose angrily snatched her cloth out of Stunfisk's hands as he spoke.

"Don't pass go on your way to jail!" He shouted said as he waved goodbye to Zangoose with a smirk on his face.

**000**

**Zangoose: Stupid flounder, I'll be sure to get him next time. *Punches her hand***

**000  
><strong>

**Stunfisk: Is it just me, or are all my enemies here are of the opposite gender?**

**000  
><strong>

In another part of the woods, Rotom and Lampent were floating around having a small chat, about how they were going to prank Latios of course.

"Maybe when Latios is washing the bed sheets, I posses the washing machine and spray him with a bunch of water." Rotom said enthusiastically.

"Hmm, that could work, but what am I going to do?" Lampent asked.

"Hmmm. I know! I'll push him into the outhouse confessional and then you'll lock it. Then we both push the confessional down a hill!"

Lampent smiled, "That's a great idea. I think I'll have fun with this. Maybe even better than the time I sprayed Teflon on the raised platforms by my home. All of those trainers slipping and falling into the grass below them! Ahhh, good times."

Rotom smiled, "Sounds like fun, I should have been there." He soon realized he wasn't moving. "Hey uh, what's going on? I can't move." He soon began moving backwards. "Okay, this is getting freaky. Lampent, help!" He soon flew backwards shouting for help. Looking behind him, he saw what was going on. Latios was holding a vacuum and was sucking in Rotom. He tried pulling away but it was in vain as he got sucked in to the vacuum.

Latios smiled devilishly, this was only the beginning.

* * *

><p>Inside, Rotom was rubbing his head, it was dark inside but he wasn't panicking, he could easily float out of the vacuum.<p>

Or so he thought.

When he touched the side wall, he found that he couldn't pass through it. He tried to push but nothing was happening. Now he began to freak out.

"Hey! What's going on? Why can't I pass through this?" He shouted.

"That's because this vacuum is the Pokegeist 3000, the best vacuum for capturing ghost-type Pokemon." Said a voice outside. Rotom assumed it was Latios.

"There's only one way out for ghosts and that's if I remove the cap that's keeping you in." He continued. "I'll only let you out if you beg, and I mean beg, me to let you out."

"Never!" Rotom shouted from inside.

"I figured you'd say that." Latios said with a sigh. "Don't worry though, I don't plan to let you rot in there, I'll let you out after the challenge cause contracts force me to. In the mean time, why don't you look at the pictures I posted on the inner walls."

Rotom looked around, there were indeed some pictures but they were obscured by the darkness. He floated closer and squinted. His eyes then widened to the size of a Snorlax's stomach as he screamed.

Outside, Latios floated, smiling as he listened to the shouts coming from his trusty vacuum.

**000**

**Rotom: *Shivering and eyes wide* Oh the horror! The pictures in there could not be unseen! Who in the world does those things and why?**

**000  
><strong>

**Latios: Oh sweet revenge! *Begins to tear up in happiness***

**000  
><strong>

While Latios was torturing Rotom, Serperior was slithering through the greenery trying to find the other team's flag. He was getting close to a clearing and began to slow down. He peered through the bushes and saw Sigilyph floating above a flag. He had found it! All he had to do now was approach from behind and nab it. He went around through the woods until he could see Sigilyph's backside. Serperior smirked, this was too easy. He lunged forward, expecting to grab the flag.

WHAM!

Serperior stopped in mid-lunge as if he hit a glass window.

"Owwwwww." He said as he rubbed his head with his tail. "They've must have had Sigilyph set up Reflect and Light Screen." He thought. He then noticed that the gold cloth he had tied to his tail was missing.

"Wha? Where is it? I had it just a second ago!" He looked around frantically to see where it was.

"Looking for this?" Roserade said as she came out of the woods. She was holding a golden piece of cloth.

"P.S., you aren't the only the Pokemon here that can blend in with the forest." She said with a smile, handing Serperior his cloth.

* * *

><p>From above, Altaria watched what was going on. She saw how Serperior had stopped in mid-air due to the Reflect and Light Screen wall from the sides.<p>

Serperior noticed Altaria up above and made a gesture to the flag, indicating that he wanted her to try and get it from the top.

Altaria nodded in understanding and flew forward so that she was positioned right above the flag, then she folded her wings and dived-bombed straight down.

No such luck.

As soon as she got near the flag, an invisible barrier stopped her from going any closer and repelled her.

"They've blocked off the top too?" She cried, not noticing Sigilyph was removing her gold cloth from her tail. When she realized, it was too late and Sigilyph handed back her cloth.

As the two Ho-Ohs left, Roserade turned to Sigilyph, "I need to go check on Gardevoir and Espeon. They haven't told us anything for a while. Be back in a bit." Sigilyph nodded and continued with his own devices. Roserade approached the border where Gardevoir was supposed to be. She looked around to see where the psychic-type was. She then noticed a white dress and walked over, only to see Gardevoir on the grass asleep.

Roserade picked up her friend and tried to shake her awake but it didn't seem to work. She noticed a small hole which was dug on the opposite side of the line representing the border. She didn't have much time to think about it as she soon heard a light tune and began to feel drowsy.

"Grasswhistle." Roserade groaned as she began to fall asleep. "But who?" She looked around to see if anyone was nearby. She saw a small green and yellow blur moving away quickly. Roserade couldn't tell who it was as her eyes soon closed and she fell asleep.

* * *

><p>Back in the Ho-Oh's part of the woods, Zoroark was still looking for the Ho-Oh's flag. As he walked, he noticed Magneton floating around. Zoroark cursed under his breath, he knew he couldn't trick Magneton so he decided to sneak around him, laying low in the bushes.<p>

He slowly crept, trying to avoid Magneton's path of vision. Unfortunately he wasn't successful.

"BZZT. MOVEMENT DETECTED. MOVEMENT DETECTED BENEATH BUSHES. CONCLUSION: POKEMON IS SNEAKING PAST MAGNETON THEREFORE, POKEMON IS ENEMY. ACTIVATING CHASE MUSIC." Music once again came out of Magneton's body from nowhere and his magnets began to flash as he floated towards Zoroark quickly who emerged from the bushes.

"Activate voice command system." Was all Zoroark had to say for Magneton to stop in mid-air.

"Return to original position in the clearing and wait five minutes before deactivating voice command system." Magneton did as told and floated away while Zoroark continued to look for the flag.

* * *

><p>Latias, wearing sunglasses, was relaxing in the sun, ignoring all the commotion in the woods. Latios emerged from the greenery carrying a vacuum cleaner. She adjusted her sunglasses to get a better look at what Latios was holding. He set down the vacuum cleaner, opened up a folding chair, sat down, and relaxed with a content sigh.<p>

"Someone seems happy." Remarked Latias.

Latios just smiled, "I've taken care of a thorn in my side. He won't be bothering me for a good long while."

A loud banging noise was heard and Latios's vacuum began to teeter left and right. Latias looked at it curiously.

"What's in there?" She asked.

"Rotom." Latios answered. "Finally took care of that bastard. That'll teach him to mess with me."

"How is that vacuum cleaner keeping him in there?"

"Remember when Ho-Oh asked me to go ghost hunting in the Burnt Tower?" Latias nodded. "That's when I got this. It prevents ghosts from escaping. Then there were those jobs at Lavender Town, and the Old Chateau." Latios continued to reminisce, "So I've had this for a while now, but it's been collecting dust since college. Now I finally got to use it again and I'm so happy I did."

"Then, why didn't you use it when all those Shedinja attacked the girl's dorm that one day? That was hell for me."

"Ummm," Latios was nervous. "I had a test that day."

Latias had her suspicions but chose to ignore them, "Whatever, what's done in the past is done." She turned away and continued to relax. Latios just let out a small sigh of relief.

**000**

**Latios: I didn't have it that day. I let my roommate, Tornadus, borrow it for the week. I guess he might have done something he didn't tell me about. **

**000  
><strong>

Deeper in the woods, Cloyster and Spiritomb were chatting in a clearing.

"As I told the rest of the alliance last time, once we start losing and split the voting blocs, we get rid of Persian first." Spiritomb continued. "Even though she's in the alliance, she's dead weight, I kind of regret allowing her to join in the first place." He said in a stern voice.

"Kah kah kah!" Cloyster laughed. "No problemo captain! I'll follow your plan like a Munchlax following a trail of food!"

"Yes, yes, just make sure you don't tell Persian about it, or else she might tell everyone else about our alliance."

"You got it! I'll be sure to zipper it tight!" Cloyster said with a laugh. He then pulled out a zipper from within his shell.

Spiritomb raised an eye in confusion, "Where'd you get that?" He asked.

Cloyster laughed, "I found this when I fought a Banette. I unzipped his mouth and all of a sudden, he just stopped moving and just collapsed. I just took as spoils of war." Cloyster laughed while Spiritomb looked at him with a mix of surprise, disbelief, and horror.

**000**

**Spiritomb: If you unzip a Banette's zipper, his soul escapes from his body, which sends them to the afterlife. Cloyster knows this, right?**

**000  
><strong>

Spiritomb regained his composure, "Anyways, just remember what I've told you. With Cryogonal gone, we've lost our intimidation factor so we need to work harder." Cloyster nodded. "Good, and keep the flag safe." Spiritomb bounced away, leaving Cloyster alone, or so he thought.

Eyes had observed the conversation, ears had heard it. The two members of Team Eclipse weren't the only ones that knew about their plan.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, Serperior, Zangoose, Altaria and Sawk were all standing in a clearing waiting to be freed.<p>

"This sucks." Said Zangoose angrily. "All of us got captured. There's no one else to get the flag and we don't know if anyone's gonna come find us."

"At least you're better off than I am." Said Sawk. "I got hit by a shell in the face."

"What bothers me the most is how the other team is protecting their flag." Serperior said. "Dual screens, that's gonna be hard to get through."

"Did they block off the top too?" Asked Sawk.

Altaria nodded. "Yeah, I tried but I couldn't get through."

Serperior just sighed, "Great, and here I thought we would win for a change."

"And instead, we're stuck here." Finished Zangoose.

They stood there for a while, waiting for something to happen. Suddenly a black and white blur jumped out from the bushes screeching to a halt in front the four Pokemon in jail. It was Absol, with a calm face as usual.

He smirked, "Seems like you guys need some help." The four Pokemon were looking at him with surprise. "Is it that surprising that I came to help out?"

"Yes." Zangoose bluntly stated.

"I didn't come here on a whim you know. _They_ wanted me to do it." Absol replied.

"Whose they?" Altaria inquired.

"Us!" Shouted Feebas, who jumped onto Absol's horn. Chinchou also jumped off Absol's back, flashing her eyes and lights.

"You guys didn't come back for a while and we weren't sure what happened to you all, so we asked Absol to help us out." Feebas continued. "The other team had Gardevoir and Espeon lookout to see who was coming over. So we asked Deerling to use Grasswhistle on them to make them fall asleep!"

"Deerling? How'd you get that scaredy-cat to help out?" Zangoose asked.

"I saved her life last challenge and now she looks up to me." Absol answered. "She just needed us to do us a small favor."

"Then the four of us came over to free you guys." Feebas finished.

"Hang on. Four?" Sawk asked. "I only see three of you."

"He should be arriving soon." Answered Absol.

As if on cue, a small part of the dirt began to rise. It slowly grew until it popped, revealing Aron.

"Sorry I'm late!" He shouted. "I got distracted by some metal when I was digging. It tasted so good though!"

"And there's number four." Absol said. He faced the four Pokemon who were in jail. "You guys coming back or not?"

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, Lucario had recently crossed over the line. He had found Gardevoir and Roserade sound asleep and woke them up. They told him all they knew at the time but didn't know who put them to sleep and what happened while they were sleeping. The two girls had told him to check on Espeon and wake her up, which he did, as she might have also fallen asleep. When awaken, she told Lucario the exact same story Gardevoir and Roserade told him but mentioned seeing someone cross the border.<p>

Lucario decided to cross as Zoroark hadn't returned for a while, thinking he had been captured. So far he hadn't found him

Lucario heard a rustling noise next to him and jumped back, waiting to see who it was. Persian emerged from the bushes and he was just about to run, until she called out to him, "Lucario! Wait a sec!"

He stopped and turned around. Persian's tone of voice was different, it seemed more masculine.

"What do you want?" He calmly asked.

"I just wanted to talk to a fellow teammate of mine." She answered innocently

"You're not my teammate." He replied, eyes narrowing.

"Oh really? What about…" She transformed. "…now?" Her body changed into Zoroark's.

Lucario stared in surprise but regained his composure. "You just love doing that don't you?"

Zoroark nodded in response. "Anyways, since you're here, mind helping me out? I'm trying to look for Cloyster, apparently he knows where the flag is."

Lucario nodded. He closed his eyes and focused. He felt auras, many different auras belonging to different Pokemon. He found Cloyster's very quickly and began to move.

"Follow me." He said. "I've found him." The two then went deeper into the woods.

As they walked, Gardevoir started to speak to Lucario telepathically. "Lucario, are you alright? Have you found Zoroark?" Lucario noticed that she said the last part with some anxiety.

"He's fine." He answered. "We're working together right now to find where the flag is."

"You better hurry; eight members of the other team are coming back. Seems that those that were caught have been freed."

"It's fine; with my aura, we'll know if there's anyone nearby. Thanks for the tip though."

"Okay, good luck to both of you."

Lucario told Zoroark everything Gardevoir had told him. Zoroark nodded in response, "I've spent too much time looking for the flag. This game might just turnaround to their favor soon."

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, most of the Ho-Ohs, save a few, had gathered in a small part of the woods. Everyone coming back had told Spiritomb what they knew; who was where, where the flag was and how it was being defended. The gears in Spiritomb's head began to turn, formulating a useful plan. He just needed to confirm some things.<p>

"Anyone have the ability Infiltrator?" Spiritomb asked. No one raised their hands. He frowned. "Okay, does anyone here know Brick Break?" Sawk and Zangoose raised their hands. He relaxed. "Confuse Ray?" Only Chinchou raised hers. "How about Double Team?" A couple Pokemon raised theirs. This was perfect Sprirtomb thought to himself. Everything was set, now for the successful execution.

"Alright everyone,I have a plan, a plan that will let us win this challenge. There are going to be two teams that will try to get flag. First team, Absol, Aron, Sawk, Magneton, and me. Second team, Zangoose, Altaria, Chinchou, and Serperior." He said this while directing his attention to each Pokemon mentioned.

"Here's how it's going to work." He picked up a stick with psychic and drew up a diagram in the ground. "Absol, you'll carry me, Aron and Sawk. Serperior you'll take Chinchou and Zangoose. Serperior and Absol, you two will bring team members to flag, using Double Team to avoid any pursuers. When you get to the flag, the two of you," Pointing the stick towards Zangoose and Sawk, "will use Brick Break on the barriers. If necessary, me and/or Chinchou will distract anyone there. I'll use Hypnosis, Chinchou, you use Confuse Ray. Next, me or Chinchou will grab the flag and Aron, you'll grab onto me. Then Zangoose or Sawk will throw Chinchou or me and Aron, respectively, as hard as they can, into the air.

He faced Altaria, "Altaria, you'll see which one of us is thrown. If it's Chinchou, catch her and fly back here. If it's Aron and me, then tell Magneton to use his magnets to bring Aron to our side of the forest. If one team is slowed, then the other can continue. But still, try your best and get to the flag. Everyone else, I want you stay here and look for Zoroark, I haven't heard anything from Cloyster yet so I assume Zoroark hasn't got the flag yet but be careful. I'm sure we will win. Now move!" Spiritomb went into his rock as Sawk picked him up and Aron and got onto Absol as everyone else got in position. The Ho-Ohs were ready to move and ready to win.

* * *

><p>Gardevoir and Roserade were crouching in some bushes waiting for something to happen. Gardevoir was tense though.<p>

"Nothing has happened since the other team members went back to their side. I wonder if Zoroark is alright." She said with slight worry in her voice.

Roserade patted her friend on the back, "Don't worry about it." She said assuringly. "He's strong. He can take care of himself. Besides, Lucario is with him. I bet those two can take down anyone in their path."

**000**

**Roserade: I know about Gardevoir's crush on Zoroark, as much as she knows mine on Lucario. But we've been kind of wary ever since we saw those two in that alliance. Still, we like them but we need to find out about that alliance.**

**000  
><strong>

They had little time to talk as someone quickly rushed passed them. Gardevoir quickly shot out of the bushes to see who had just passed her. All she needed was the white fur to know it was Absol who ran by.

"Everyone! Absol is coming over and quickly! Try and catch him!" She told everyone via telepathy. "Espeon, anyone pass you?"

"Serperior just passed me! He was going quickly as well!" Replied the sun Pokemon.

"It seems that the other team is going for the flag, protect it at all costs!" Gardevoir shouted, still using telepathy. "Lucario, have you and Zoroark gotten the flag yet?"

"No, we're following Cloyster but we haven't found the flag yet." He replied.

"Okay, just try your best to get it. Good luck." Gardevoir said as she and Roserade went to help protect the flag.

* * *

><p>Lucario and Zoroark were watching Cloyster from afar. They had found him earlier and followed him but they still didn't know the location of the flag and were getting impatient.<p>

"Where is that damn flag? He's hiding it, but where?" Zoroark growled.

"Patience, he'll lead us to it soon enough." Replied Lucario.

They continued to watch the shellfish move about, opening and closing his shell. When he opened it, Lucario caught a glimpse of something, it wasn't Cloyster's gold cloth.

"In there!" He whispered to Zoroark.

"Huh?" Zoroark replied, confused.

"The flag, the other team hid it in his shell!" Lucario said in a low but serious tone.

Zoroark looked surprised but a grin developed on his face, "Good thing I know Thief then, we've got this."

He jumped out of the bushes and ran towards Cloyster. The shellfish saw the approaching Pokemon, "Hah! You come for the flag! But your efforts are futile! Freeze!" Cloyster let out an Ice Beam, making a wall of ice blocking Zoroark's approach.

"And now for my hasty escape! But first…" He shot an Icicle Spear into the sky. "To let my friends and not-friends know you're coming." Cloyster laughed as he bounced away.

Lucario dashed forward and used Force Palm, shattering the ice. The two members of the Lugias then gave chase.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, Aron noticed the icicle that was shot into the air. "What's that?" He asked. "Is it made out of metal?"<p>

Spiritomb came out from his rock and saw what Aron was talking about. "The other team must have found where the flag is. Come on!"

The group had already passed Klink and Stunfisk, Stunfisk getting stepped on once again. Now Blitzle, Lampent and Magmar blocked their path.

"You ain't going any farther!" Magmar shouted as she let out a Flamethrower attack. Lampent sent a Shadow Ball at Absol while Blitzle charged with Wild Charge. Absol used Double Team, all attacks hit the clones as he jumped over Magmar and continued, picking up the pace.

Similarly, Serperior's group had come face-to-face with the other team. They avoided the bug trio, now Bisharp and Kingdra now stood in their path. Kingdra had set up a wall of Twisters and Bisharp was sharpening his blades, in case the other team passed through the wall. Serperior used Double Team and Leaf Storm to destroy the Twisters and successfully passed by. Bisharp continued to pursue them and jumped at Serperior preparing to use Slash. Zangoose parried his blows with Crush Claw. One blow struck his chest and he was sent backwards.

"And that's for the first day metalhead!" Zangoose shouted as Serperior slithered on.

**000**

**Kingdra: The Rattata, when cornered by a Meowth, will bite back. We were the Meowth, they the Rattata. Need I say more?**

**000  
><strong>

**Blitzle: Dang, we just got served!**

**000  
><strong>

The first group soon approached the flag, only Sigilyph was floating there. Spiritomb used Hypnosis on Sigilyph who fell asleep, with his eyes open.

Aron poked the sleeping Pokemon, "Okay, that's really weird."

Sawk punched the barriers that protected the flag and looked over, "And I thought the stare was creepy before." He muttered.

"Can we get a move on? I've got the flag." Spiritomb said.

Sawk nodded. Spiritomb returned to his stone with the flag, Aron held onto the rock and Sawk grabbed both of them. He threw them into the air as hard as he could and watched them fly.

The second group arrived and saw that the first group had completed the job.

"Ugh, if only Gardevoir and her two friends didn't get in the way at the last minute, we would have gotten here earlier." Zangoose complained.

"Don't worry about it, at least we're done, we might just win." Serperior said smiling.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, Cloyster was on the ground, Lucario stood above him and Zoroark held the flag.<p>

"We've finally got it, let's head back quickly." Zoroark said to his companion who nodded in response.

"He he he." Laughed Cloyster. "You're still a mix of blue and yellow. By now my team has obtained your flag and are returning to celebrate our joyous victory! All hope is lost for you!"

The two Lugias decided to ignore Cloyster and ran off.

"That's right! Run! Run to your shelter which will become a paradise of defeat!" Cloyster shouted.

* * *

><p>Aron was flying and holding onto Spiritomb's rock. He looked at the rock and then around him.<p>

"I wonder how it tastes." He thought to himself. He opened his mouth and took a bite.

"Ow!" Spiritomb emerged. "Do you mind? Just because you're bored, you shouldn't nibble on my rock!" He retreated back into it, only to come back out as Aron bit it again.

**000**

**Spiritomb: *His rock is now covered in bite marks and small chunks of it are missing.* I'm now debating wether I should eliminate Persian or Aron first.**

**000  
><strong>

Above, Aron and Spiritomb were nearing Magneton on their side of the forest. Below, Zoroark and Lucario were nearing theirs. One team crossed before the other and a whistle was blown, signifying the end.

"Attention all campers! The game is OVER!" Latias's voice blared over the intercom. "Please go to the campfire pit and I'll tell you the results and believe me, it was literally a photo finish!"

Latios opened up his vacuum and turned it upside down, dropping Rotom onto the grass below.

He looked around, one eye half open, "Is it over?" He asked. Latios nodded.

"Freedom!" He shouted as he floated away to join his team.

* * *

><p>Most of the Lugias were walking to the campfire pit. Bisharp did a quick headcount. "Hey, we're missing two people."<p>

"Sorry I'm late!" Rotom shouted as he floated over.

"Where have you been this whole time?" Magmar angrily asked him.

"Latios had me stuck in a vacuum cleaner for the whole challenge." He responded.

"Yeah right, where's your proof?"

"Lampent saw me get sucked in."

"It's true." Responded Lampent. "I did see Latios suck in Rotom."

Magmar turned her attention to Lampent, "Why should I trust you, maybe you're just helping out your boyfriend there."

Lampent turned a beet red at the comment. "He's not my boyfriend!" She shouted back.

"Can we argue about this later?" Bisharp shouted over the two females. "Where's our other missing member?"

Everyone looked around. "It's Sigilyph." Blitzle shouted. "I'll go get him." He ran back towards the woods to find his teammate.

He went to the clearing where the flag was, only to see Sigilyph staring into space as he always did.

"Dude, game's over." Blitzle said to Sigilyph. "We've got to go." He nudged Sigilyph a little and the Pokemon blinked a couple times.

"Oh, sorry bout that." He looked around. "What happened?"

"The challenge ended." Blitzle answered. "We were supposed to go to the campfire pit. You were probably stuck in a trance again and you didn't hear. Come on." Blitzle galloped away, Sigilyph behind him.

* * *

><p>All contestants gathered at the campfire pit. Latios and Latias were floating in front of them.<p>

"Well, quite the challenge today no?" Latias said with a smile. "Both teams did really well. I would love to say it was a tie, but unfortunately, it wasn't. The winning team of this challenge is…"

There was a long silence, anticipation was starting to bother the contestants.

"The Honorable Ho-Ohs!" Latias shouted.

The Ho-Ohs cheered. They had finally won a challenge. They hoisted up Spiritomb, with little effort, and walked away.

"Lugias, although you put up a good fight, you still lost and will be heading to elimination for the first time. Cast your votes in the confessional and meet back here later tonight where one of you will be leaving us. Choose wisely!" Latias left with her brother, leaving the Lugias to talk about who to eliminate.

* * *

><p>A little later, all of the war council members met at their usual spot.<p>

"So, we've finally lost one." Bisharp said under his breath. "Can't say I didn't see it coming." He turned towards his members. "Anyone know how everyone else is voting?"

Kingdra spoke, "I heard some people say Rotom since he wasn't here the whole time, though Sigilyph is another choice."

"Pray tell." Bisharp said with some interest.

"I heard from Blitzle that Sigilyph might have gone into a trance while protecting the flag. This might have allowed the other team to slip by and get it."

Bisharp nodded, "That's true. I personally don't believe Rotom's story. However, Sigilyph's trances will prove to be a liability. I suggest we vote for him tonight and convince the others can to do so as well." He finished with the rest of the members nodding.

* * *

><p>Nearby, Roserade and Gardevoir were hiding as usual and they had heard what Bisharp had said.<p>

"See, they're trying to vote people off! It has to be an alliance!" Roserade hissed.

Gardevoir shook her head, "I didn't want to believe it, but I guess it's true then." She turned to Roserade. "What should we do?"

"I say we vote for Rotom." Roserade reasoned, "If Sigilyph goes instead, then we know that their plan worked. We'll continue spying on them, see who they'll eliminate and warn everyone beforehand."

Gardevoir nodded, "Good idea, let's go." The two then exited from the bushes and back to the campsite.

* * *

><p>"If I may, I have some useful information for you Bisharp." Zoroark said grinning.<p>

Bisharp turned his attention toward Zoroark who continued, "I've learned that there's an alliance on the other team." Bisharp began smiling; this was just the information he needed. "I know that Spiritomb, Cloyster and Persian are in it. Cryogonal was a member before he got voted off. Currently, they plan on voting off Persian after they start losing challenges again."

"Why would they do that?" Lucario asked.

"They find Persian no more than a pawn." Zoroark answered. "Once they gain control of their team's voting blocs, they'll split it and vote off whomever they want, giving them control over the team."

Bisharp took out his paper and pencil, "This changes everything." He muttered. "Seems that Spiritomb is the actual king of the team, Cryogonal would be the queen due to his power, Cloyster a bishop and Persian a pawn. So that would put Zangoose as a knight and Serperior as a rook." He smiled, things were getting interesting.

* * *

><p>That night, the Lugias were gathered at the campfire pit. Latios and Latias were floating nearby, Latios holding a poffin case.<p>

"Welcome Lugias, to your first ever elimination." Latias said. "All but one of you is safe tonight. If your name is called, you'll receive a poffin which shows that you are safe. The one Pokemon that doesn't receive a poffin will be forced to leave the game. Now the first Pokemon that gets a poffin is, Klink."

The gears happily got up, received the poffin, and split it amongst themselves.

"The Pokemon that are also safe are…Bisharp, Gardevoir, Roeserade and Lampent." The four Pokemon received their poffins which they consumed.

"Zoroark, Lucario, Kingdra and Stunfisk, you guys are also safe." The four Pokemon relaxed as they went to get their poffins.

"Shuckle, Joltick, Blitzle, and Espeon. You all are safe tonight." All four Pokemon walked up and got their poffins, waiting to see who else was safe.

It was now down to Spinarak, Magmar, Rotom and Sigilyph, "Magmar and Spinarak, you two didn't get any votes so both of you are safe."

Magmar glared at the host when she got her poffin, "Took you long enough." She muttered with a huff.

Latias ignored Magmar and continued.

"Rotom, Sigilyph, one of you is leaving today." Latias said as she looked at the two Pokemon in front of her. "Sigilyph, you failed to protect the flag and the other team won because of that. Rotom, you were absent almost the whole game. And so, the Pokemon with the most votes is…"

Rotom was sweating, Sigilyph was just staring into space.

"Rotom, you're safe."

"Hooray!"

Lampent rushed to hug Rotom. Realizing what she was doing, Lampent let go, though she was blushing furiously. Rotom just had a look of surprise on his face.

**000**

**Magmar: They are so a couple.**

**000  
><strong>

**Kingdra: May you two live happily in each other's arms.**

**000  
><strong>

"Well Sigilyph, time for you to go." Latias said.

Sigilyph sat there, unmoving and unfazed.

"He's stuck in a trance again." Latias noticed. "Someone bring him to the confessional!"

**000**

**Sigilyph: … *Shakes his head* Huh? Where am I? The confessional? Did I get voted off?**

**Latias: *outside* Yes!**

**Sigilyph: …Well then, I guess it's time for me to say goodbye. It's kinda depressing, being the first off my team, but that's how things happen I guess. If I wanted anyone to win, I'd say Blitzle, Espeon or Stunfisk. They've been kind to me during my brief stay. Well, good luck everyone!**

**000  
><strong>

Sigilyph waved goodbye as he walked the Dock of Losers and flew away.

"Shame," Stunfisk said, "he was a nice guy unlike someone here."

Magmar noticed where he was looking. "You got a problem with me shrimp?"

"I am not a shrimp." Stunfisk calmly said, "I am a flounder, flame for brains."

"That's it! Get over here!" Magmar shouted as Stunfisk bounced away.

The rest of the team just watched Magmar chase the flounder all across camp, shouts being heard through the night.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, the Ho-Ohs were celebrating their first win of the season in their cabin.<p>

"To Spiritomb!" Cloyster shouted with a laugh. "For coming up with a masterpiece of genius that allowed us to shatter the wall of losing that had plagued us!"

"We don't know what you're saying but, to Spiritomb!" Sawk shouted.

"To Spiritomb!" Everyone else cheered.

Spiritomb smiled, "Thanks for all your praise but I couldn't have done it without all your help."

On the outside, he was happy and enjoying everyone's company. On the inside, he was scheming. He had gotten his team's respect flawlessly, now he had to make Persian seem unpopular. But, he had to be careful, if anything went wrong, his plan would fall apart completely and he would be next on the chopping block. Just a little longer and it would be game, set, match.

* * *

><p>I really need to make these chapters shorter.<p>

Latios finally got his revenge. What the pictures were, I'll let you all think about that on your own.

Sigilyph, not much to say about this guy, I did plan on making him last longer, but with the way things were changing, I felt that having him stay wouldn't be the best of decisions.

Anyways, positive comments are appreciated and tips on making this even better would be great too.

Couple references here and there, go find them. Look in previous chapters too; I'm surprised no one has caught them yet.

**Sigilyph: *stares at the camera* Oh, sorry, another trance. Ahem, please review.**

Next Time: The remaining contestants get to experience Monte Carlo as they have fun and take risks. Some drop out early while others profit from the loss. A conflict begins to heat up between two Pokemon, but at the end of the night, someone goes home.


	7. Go Big or Go Home!

New chapter, not gonna waste your time so onto the story!

* * *

><p>"Last time on Pokemon Drama Island." Latios said without much enthusiasm. "The contestants competed in a classic game of capture the flag. During the match, I was able to capture Rotom and exact my revenge on him. Oh that was sweet. Meanwhile, Zoroark was able to stop Magneton multiple times by exploiting Magneton's voice command system and tried to get the Ho-Oh's flag held by Cloyster. The Lugias flag was blocked with Light Screens and Reflects made by Sigilyph, which stopped many of the Ho-Ohs from getting it. In the near end, Spiritomb created a plan which succeeded, and helped the Ho-Ohs finally win a challenge. In the Lugias first ever campfire ceremony, it was down to Rotom and Sigilyph. Sigilyph was sent home instead of Rotom, much to my disappointment, as he failed to protect the flag. Today, the campers get to risk it all or play it safe in our glitziest challenge yet. Who will strike big and who will crap out? Find out on, Pokemon. Drama. Island."<p>

**000**

All of the campers were standing in front of a shack waiting for Latias. She had told them to get up and arrive here at 7 AM, and most of them were very tired. It was a tall, white rectangular building. A red roof topped it with windows underneath it. After 30 minutes, Latias floated by with a happy smile on her face, as opposed to everyone else's tired and annoyed ones, save a few.

"Welcome campers, to our new facility we call the Challenge Shack!"

"Was it really necessary to wake us up this early just to show us a crummy building?" Stunfisk droned from the back.

Latias just glared at Stunfisk before continuing. "Since SOMEONE is very impatient, I'll just tell you all that this building will be used for some challenges that require special needs or has to be held indoors."

Latias opened the door, leading into the pitch-black building. "Everyone, please step inside."

One-by-one, all of the Pokemon filed in, Latias closing the door behind her. It was hard to see, even with Magmar, Lampent and Rotom giving off light with their bodies. A couple of silhouettes were seen, but no one could tell what they were.

Latias flipped on the lights. The room became so bright that everyone had to shield themselves from the light. When they opened their eyes, their jaws dropped. Slot machines were lined up on the side of the room, in the center was a card flip table, and in the back, a craps table, a blackjack table and a roulette wheel were lined up horizontally.

Latias smiled, "Welcome to our Game Corner. For today's challenge, you'll be trying to see how much money your team can make by gambling. We have all the traditional casino games along with some others. You all will receive a coin case with 500 coins and get to play for 12 hours, the team with the most money by the end of the day gets invincibility."

She continued, "I'll be keeping track of how much money each team makes. You'll come to me with whatever amount you've won and I'll add it to the team's total. Make sure you leave yourself with some however as you are not allowed to take back coins that has been turned in. If you lose all the money you have, you can borrow some from your teammates but that's it."

"Wait, where are all the dealers for the tables?" Zoroark asked, after looking around a bit.

"I was getting to that." Latias said with a frown. "Since I'm keeping track of cash, I got Latios and a couple of college friends to help out today. Come in guys!"

A door in the back opened to reveal Latios, and three other Pokemon unknown to the contestants. The first three were floating, one was blue, one was pink and the other was yellow. Each one of them had a red jewel on their foreheads and two tails. "Everyone, say hi to Azelf, Mesperit, and Uxie. They, along with Latios, will be supervising the table games today." The campers gave a silent wave to the guests.

"Not a talkative bunch are they?" Mesperit remarked.

"You'd be surprised." Latias said, giving a certain contestant glares.

Latias noticed the eager looks the contestants were giving her, "Well, I see all of you guys are ready. If so, go!" The contestants scattered off to the various games that were present, eager to win big.

**000**

**Absol: Hmm, I actually might do well this challenge due to my ability. But, who knows, fate might throw a curveball, like that challenge…**

**000**

Spiritomb and Cloyster were playing at a card-flip table along with Blitzle, Klink and Spinarak where Azelf was the dealer.

"Place your bets." Azelf said, placing a card face down on the table.

"Level 4, 50 coins."

"Pikachu, 75 coins."

"Jigglypuff Level 3, 20 coins."

Spiritomb looked at the bets made, "Oddish Level 2, 250 coins."

"I shall duplicate the same action!" Cloyster shouted.

Azelf smirked, "You two are going big I see, very well. And the card is…" He flipped the card over. "Well, well, Oddish Level 2. Congrats, here are your winnings." He handed the two a bunch of coins which they just smirked at.

**000**

**Spiritomb: Me and Cloyster do play card-flip a lot in our spare time when I'm not thinking of plans. I just so happened to bring an extra deck with me today…**

**000**

The two continued to win coins until their Coin Cases couldn't fit any more, which they decided to turn in all but 500 of their coins to a very surprised Latias.

"Well, I didn't think you guys will pull ahead so quickly. Give me one second." She pulled out Latios's megaphone and spoke into it. "Attention all campers, thanks to Spiritomb and Cloyster, the Ho-Ohs are currently ahead with 99000 coins. Lugias, you'd better catch up!"

Everyone turned their heads to where the announcement came from; it had been a little over a hour after the challenge had started.

**000**

**Bisharp: Something tells me luck didn't have to do with their success.**

**000**

At the craps table, Lampent was about to throw the dice as Zoroark, Zangoose, Bisharp and Sawk watched. Sawk, Lampent and Bisharp put their chips on the "pass" line, while Zangoose and Zoroark put theirs on the "don't pass" line. She rolled the dice, both of them landed as four.

"Hard eight." Uxie said as the dealer.

"How does he know that, his eyes aren't even open!" Zangoose whispered to Sawk.

"I have ears you know." Uxie said as he took a wooden stick and collected the dice, giving Lampent another pair. "If you see me with my eyes open, you're memory will be erased. Would you like to be my next victim?" Zanoogse just looked away.

Lampent was shaking the die. She looked to her up and saw Rotom playing roulette. Unknowingly, the dice slipped out of her hand and fell onto the table.

"Ouch, snake eyes. All of you that put your chips on the "don't pass" line, you win, everyone else loses." Uxie said, taking the chips and the die.

Lampent ignored the groans and left the craps table to go see Rotom. He had already placed his bet on Makuhita, now he was waiting to see where the ball would land. She approached him from behind.

"Hey Rotom."

Rotom glanced behind him in surprise, "Oh, uh, hey Lampent."

"Listen, I need to talk to you about-"

"Green Makuhita." Mesperit shouted. At the table, Schuckle, Persian and Deerling groaned and sighed while Kingdra, Absol and Rotom cheered as Meseprit gave them their chips.

Rotom looked back at Lampent, "Sorry about that, what were you saying?"

"I want to talk to you about what happened during the last elimination."

Rotom froze up, "Uh, yeah, um, about that, I…gotta go for a minute." He floated away quickly out of Lampent's sight.

**000**

**Lampent: It's been kind of awkward between me and Rotom ever since I hugged him after the elimination. My emotions just got the better of me at the time. I like him, but I'm not sure if he feels the same and the way he's acting doesn't help his case.**

**000**

**Rotom: Don't get me wrong, I'm not unhappy that Lampent hugged me and I really like her, I really do! But what she did was so out of the blue that I didn't know how to react. And now, I've distanced myself from her and we've haven't pulled a good prank in days. Might as well talk to her.**

**000**

**Latios: Rotom hasn't been pranking me for days, I guess I really did show him whose boss. Yes! *does a fist pump***

**000**

Meanwhile, Stunfisk was playing in front of a slot machine. He was doing alright, then he saw something on his right that made him shiver: an angry Magmar approaching him.

"Hey, runt. Give me back my coins." She said threateningly, flame coming from her mouth.

"What makes you think I have your coins and how'd you lose them in the first place?"

"I don't know, they keep disappearing whenever I pass you when I go turn them in, so _you_ must be the culprit."

"Why would I bother stealing your coins? I'm doing perfectly fine here."

"Yeah but not as good as three-eyes next to you."

Stunfisk looked to his left, two machines down, Magneton was hitting buttons very quickly, getting the jackpot every time.

Stunfisk looked back at Magmar with a quizzical look on his face, "Seriously?"

**000**

**Stunfisk: The guy reacts in nanoseconds, how am I supposed to compete with that?**

**000**

"He's a machine, I'm an organic life form." Stunfisk said calmly.

"So, what's that supposed to mean?

"Is your tiny brain seriously not processing what I just said or has it not gotten through your thick skull?"

"Are you saying I'm stupid?"

"Yes, but you haven't answered my question."

"Doesn't matter, come here!"

Magmar lunged forward, trying to grab Stunfisk but missed. He grabbed his coin case and bounced away, Magamr in hot pursuit, her flaming tail hitting the seats behind her. Behind them, Spiritomb was listening.

**000**

**Spiritomb: *whistling innocently***

**000**

At the blackjack table where Latios was the dealer, Rotom was the only one playing. Latios passed him two cards.

"Hit me." Rotom said.

"I'm sorry, I didn't hear you." Latios responded.

"I said hit me!"

BAM!

Latios had punched Rotom right in the eye.

"An eye for an eye my friend." Latios said as he dusted off his knuckles. "That was for the boxing glove surprise you gave me a while back."

Clutching his eye, Rotom shouted "That wasn't me! It was Lampent!" He then quickly covered his mouth, eyes wide and a terrified look on his face.

"So you weren't the only one pranking me huh? That makes sense. You and her must be accomplices then. Well, now I have another person to teach a lesson to." Rotom just groaned.

Gardevoir, Serperior, Altaria, Joltik, and Lucario came over and sat down, ready to play a game. Joltik noticed Rotom's black eye, "Hey, you okay there?"

"Yeah I'm fine." Rotom replied in tired tone. "I'm going to go play some slots now." He floated away from the table as Latios began to deal out cards.

**000**

**Rotom: Things have just gone from bad to worse. Sigh…**

**000**

As everyone at the table picked up their cards and Latios flipped one of his cards over, Gardevoir began to hum a little tune. Everyone else ignored it.

"Hit me." Altaira, Lucario and Serperior said simultaneously. Latios gave each one of them a card.

"Hit me again." Serperior said. Latios dealt him another card. Serperior looked at the card, sighed and folded.

"Show your hands." Latios said as he flipped his other card.

Latios had 19, Lucario had 19, Joltik had 18, Altaria had 20. Gardevoir smiled as she put down her cards.

"Blackjack."

Everyone stared, Gardevoir just smiled.

**000**

**Gardevoir: Lucky Chant, apparently it doesn't just prevent critical hits from landing.**

**000**

After 4 hours, the Lugias had turned in 12800 coins while the Ho-Ohs had 20400 coins in. The Ho-Ohs early lead had helped them greatly.

Aron was sitting in front of a slot machine. He was bored looking at numbers spin in front of him and was getting hungry.

"Just a nibble." He thought to himself. "It's not like it'll break down."

He took a bite off the handle and chewed it a little bit. His eyes lit up and took another bite out of the machine and another and another. As he continued to eat, Roserade passed by with a questioning look on her face.

**000**

**Roserade: Besides the machine Aron pretty much devoured, there was one that said "Reserved", one that said "Out of Order", another one had a set of keys in it and some seats were slightly charred. Aren't these machines supposed to be new?**

**000**

Meanwhile, Magmar was still chasing Stunfisk. He quickly turned a corner Magmar hot on his trail. She made her way to the same corner and looked around; Stunfisk was nowhere to be seen. She stormed off in rage. On the floor by the wall, Stunfisk opened an eye. Realizing the coast was clear, he bounced off to the craps table, hoping he wouldn't be noticed.

**000**

**Stunfisk: Camouflage for the win.**

**000**

Stunfisk looked at a clock. It had been six hours, the challenge was halfway over. He checked the electronic scoreboard set up, the Ho-Ohs were still in the lead with 27500 coins, the Lugias only had 19600 coins turned in.

**000**

Absol was still playing roulette along with Deerling, Zangoose, Lampent, Klink, Kingdra and Cloyster. He was having very good luck so far, as he had won many of the games. Espeon decided to hop on over next to him, he groaned.

"Why are you still following me around?"

"Oh come on, you make it sound like a bad thing."

"It is. It's annoying."

"Just be true to yourself, you know you like me."

"I don't and I won't say any more on the subject."

"So you're admitting it, you do like me."

"How many times do I have to say I don't?"

Everyone else at the roulette table just stared at the two, ignoring where the ball had landed.

"They are so in love." Mesperit said smugly.

"H-how do y-you know?" Deerling asked.

"Simple, I embody emotion and I'm the reason why everyone has emotions. I know love when I see it. By the way, you should try to be a little more forward as well."

"Wh-what do you mean?" Deerling asked, surprised at what Mesperit had said.

"I know you like him, don't try to hide it. Do I have to tell everyone here?" Deerling's eyes widened.

"N-no no no n-no no!"

**000**

**Zangoose: Deerling has a crush? Oh this is going to be hilarious.**

**000**

**Deerling: I-I don't like o-others reading m-my mind. P-p-please stay o-out!**

**000**

At the card-flip table, Spiritomb had just left to turn in his coins, leaving Cloyster to continue playing with Blitzle, Perisan, Feebas and Chinchou.

"I chose the weed of the highest level for 100 of my betting items!" He said in his loud and crazy voice.

Azelf groaned, "For the last time, say the card's name correctly!" He shouted as Cloyster put his coins on the Oddish Level 6 spot.

"You get used to it." Persian said, annoyed.

"I wouldn't be so sure, he called Jigglypuff a pink marshmallow, Poliwag a tadpole reject, and don't get me started on what he said about Pikachu." Azelf said crossly.

"He's crazy, you can't really ask for too much." Feebas said.

"It still irks me."

"Believe me; all of us are at some times." Blitzle said, Chinchou nodding in agreement.

"Whatever, I'm flipping the card. And it's...Pikachu Level 1. No one wins. I'll be taking your bets." Azelf said, using his psychic energy to take the chips. "Next card. Now place your bets. Just put your chips down where you want, don't say anything, especially you." Azelf said directing his attention to Cloyster. He just smiled.

**000**

**Cloyster: I think he likes me!**

**000**

Lucario had left the Blackjack table and went to place some slots. He sat on a charred seat and closed his eyes. A wave of calm swept over him as he exhaled. He put in a coin and pulled the lever, eyes still closed. He ignored everything around him, Cloyster's laughs, Stunfisk's screams and Magmar's threats. The only thing he could hear were the slots in front of him spinning. He raised his paw and hit all the buttons quickly. He heard a chime and smirked. He opened his eyes. In the middle row was a cherry, a Pikachu, and a Replay. He looked at the payout, two coins.

**000**

**Lucario: *scorched black* That was unexpected.**

**000**

Behind him, Stunfisk had bounced past where Lucario was, Magmar right behind him, attacking him with Flame Burst. A couple stray shots hit the machines, destroying them. One scorched Lucario. He just sat where he was, unmoving. Next to him, Aron was eating the destroyed machines.

**000**

**Lucario: As was that.**

**000**

There were four hours left in the competition. The Lugias had somehow caught up a bit and had 25100 coins turned in, but the Ho-Ohs were still leading with 30900 coins.

Back at the craps table, Shuckle was about to throw the dice. Sawk, Joltik, Magneton, Kingdra, Altaria and Serperior were waiting on the results.

She threw the dice, one landed as a five, the other a two.

"Natural seven." Uxie called as everyone at the table cheered. As she cheered, Shuckle lost her balance and fell backwards. When she realized this, she ducked back into her shell and landed on Sawk's foot.

"Ouch!"

**000**

**Sawk: Have I really become a pain magnet? I need to talk to the writer about this.**

**Latias: *outside* No breaking the fourth wall!**

**Sawk: Sorry!**

**000**

It was Magneton's turn to throw the dice. He picked them up with his magnets.

"BZZT. ACTIVATING CRAPS SIMULATION FUNCTION. SIMULATING BEST THROWING ANGLE AND VELOCITY TO GET SEVEN. BZZT." His pupils flashed for a moment as he floated there. "BZZT. SIMULATION FINISHED. BEST ANGLE AND VELOCITY FOUND. PREPARING TO THROW DIE. BZZT." He threw the die as they bounced around until they stopped.

"Sorry, boxcars." Uxie said as he picked up the die.

"BZZT. EMOTION SEQUENCE ACTIVATED. EMOTION IS ANGER." His eyes became slanted and floated in front of Uxie. "I REQUEST A DO-OVER. BZZT."

Uxie looked up. "I'm sorry but the house limit is three do-overs, all of them spent on that gentleman over there." Uxie pointed at Sawk who was hopping around, clutching his injured foot.

Uxie smirked, "Funny thing is he got snake eyes every single time. Next shooter!"

**000**

**Magneton: BZZT. ACTIVATING ANGER SEQUENCE. BROOKLYN RAGE! BZZT.**

**000**

There were only two hours left in the challenge, Latias made an announcement.

"Attention everyone, I must leave for a little bit. Be right back! Don't do anything stupid, though I seriously doubt it." And with that she walked outside, leaving everyone to continue their activities.

Meanwhile, Stunfisk was still being chased by Magmar. Magmar suddenly stopped.

"Okay enough of this running around!" She shouted.

Stunfisk stopped and looked behind him, "Great, does that mean you won't kill me?"

"No, you're still dead meat; I'm just going to destroy you differently!" She inhaled deeply and held it in.

Stunfisk, realizing what Magmar was about to do, bounced away as fast as he could, screaming "Oh shit!" at the top of his lungs.

Magmar lunged forward, an Overheat attack coming from her mouth. Everyone screamed and ducked as the flames approached them.

When Magmar had finished, the whole place was burnt, even where she was standing. Everyone crawled out from underneath the tables looking around at the debris. The lake guardians poked their heads from behind Latios who had used Protect.

"AHHHHHHHHH!"

Everyone turned to see where the scream came from. Latias was floating at the entrance, a shocked and horrified look on her face.

"WHO DID THIS?" She screamed, looking at everyone in the room. Latios gulped, the lake guardians ducked back behind Latios, scared. No one knew what was scarier, Magmar nearly killing them with Overheat, or Latias in her extremely pissed off state.

"No one is fessing up? Alright then. No invincibility for anyone tonight!" Latias screamed. Several contestants gasped. "That's right, anyone is fair game for elimination tonight. The person with the most votes will be forced to leave! Now all of you go to the mess hall, you're dinner is ready."

One by one, all of the Pokemon left the challenge shack, whispering to one another.

"No talking!" Latias shouted, causing some campers to wince.

As the campers left, Latios had a nervous look on his face.

"Crap, she's really pissed this time."

"We've noticed." Azelf whispered.

"Latios! Uxie! Mesperit! Azelf! Get over here!" Latias shouted, causing Latios to flinch.

"Time to face the devil incarnate." Latios said with a shudder. He slowly floated over there, the lake guardians behind him.

"Y-yeah sis?" he asked, scared of what would happen.

"Mind getting the food out for the campers?" Latais said sweetly, a smile on her face.

The four other legendaries just stared in shock.

"Y-yeah, sure thing." Latios responded. He closed his eyes and snapped his fingers. "Done."

"Mind if we go get something to eat? We're kind of hungry to." Azelf said.

"Don't bother, you wouldn't like what I've set out for the campers."

"What you give them?" Mesperit asked.

"You'll see."

At that moment, the sound of glass shattering was heard as something flew out from the mess hall and hit Latias.

"OW!" Latias turned around towards the mess hall. "Watch it bub!" She screamed.

Uxie picked up the item on the ground. "Packaged tofu? Really Latios?"

"It was the only food in the kitchen that isn't raw."

"Don't worry, I'll order us some food." Latias said as she pulled out a cell phone. "Everyone okay with Chinese?" She asked.

**000**

**Bisharp: So we can vote off anyone tonight, this can prove difficult. On one hand, we can vote out someone from the other team due to our numbers, but I feel that there's someone else that deserves to go instead. I'll have to talk to the others about what we're going to do.**

**000**

After Gardevoir and Roserade finished eating, they decided to go to their usual hiding spot to spy on the "alliance". When they got there, they only noticed Bisharp sitting on a rock alone.

"He's alone, maybe we can take this opportunity to talk ask him what's going on." Gardevoir reasoned.

"No, let's wait, maybe the others will show up." Roserade answered.

"I somehow doubt that." Bisharp said behind them.

"Well, who knows maybe they…huh?" Gardevoir and Roserade turned around to see Bisharp, Kingdra and Lucario standing behind them.

"But first I must ask, why have you been spying on us and for how long?" Bisharp asked the two Pokemon in front of them.

**000**

Meanwhile, Rotom was looking for Lampent. He noticed her about to enter the confessional.

"Hey Lampent! Wait a sec!" He called to her.

Lampent noticed Rotom and floated over. "Heya Rotom, great timing, I wanted to talk to you about something."

"Yeah same here, but why don't you go first?"

"Well, remember how I hugged you during the last elimination?" Rotom nodded. "Well, my body kind of reacted on its own when I heard you were safe."

"Why's that?"

"Well…um…you see…its kinda…" Lampent was fidgeting around. "I like you. I like you a lot." Rotom's eyes widened, a lot.

**000**

**Rotom: I never expected her to confess her feelings like that, now I'm kinda worried about how she's going to take the news that I accidentally snitched her out to Latios.**

**000**

"So, what were you going to say?" Lampent asked Rotom.

"Oh, uh, well I like you too Lampent." Rotom stammered.

"Really? That's great!" Lampent hugged Rotom who returned it.

"I also accidentally told Latios that you've been pranking him as well." Rotom said, nervously.

An awkward silence ran between them.

"You did what?" Lampent asked slightly angry.

"I'm sorry it just kind of slipped!" Rotom said in defense.

"Well isn't that great, now he's going to go after me as well. Sure he might have found out later but I never expected you to tell him!"

"But I said it was a complete accident! I never meant to tell him!"

"Is that why you said you liked me then? So I wouldn't be as angry when you told me?"

"No, I was serious when I said I liked you!"

"I don't believe you and that's the end of it!" Lampent went inside the confessional and slammed the door shut, causing Rotom to wince.

Nearby, Mesperit was eating some lo mein. She had seen and heard the whole conversation.

"Ah, the couple's first fight. They'll make up eventually." She said as she slurped some of her noddles.

"You really are a romantic, aren't you?" Uxie said as he floated over, eating fried rice.

"It's what I do." Mesperit said, floating away.

**000**

**Rotom: Well, I got that off my chest though at a price. I need to make it up her and badly. I could really use some help here!**

**000**

Back with Gardevoir and Roserade, the two were sitting on the beach while the war council members were discussing amongst themselves. Turns out, the Bisharp on the beach was just Zoroark in disguise.

"So what do we do now that we know that they've been spying on us?" asked Zoroark.

"I'm not sure, though I have a couple of questions I want to ask them." Bisharp said.

He turned toward the two females, "So, I ask again, why have you two been spying on us?"

"Because we know you're an alliance trying to vote off other people." Roserade said.

Bisharp's eyes widened for a moment but quickly smiled, "I'm afraid that you've got us all wrong. We aren't an alliance at all."

"Then, why were you plotting to get rid of Sigilyph?" Gardevoir asked.

Bisharp frowned, "I don't really like the word "plotting", it sounds sinister. But, to answer your question, we were only voting for someone who we thought would be a liability to the team. You see, the four of us hold strategy meetings after every challenge. During these meetings we would basically rank everyone here and see how we can get farther in this competition. We try to get the other team to vote off their stronger players, while we try to get rid of the members on our team that aren't as useful if our team loses."

"So you plan on keeping this group of yours until the end?" asked Roserade.

Bisharp shook his head, "No, I've plan on ending these meetings when the teams merge. My reasons are that other competitors will mistake us of being an alliance and act against us, just like you two have."

"So, what are you going to do with us?" Gardevoir asked.

"I don't have many options since both of you have found us out already. So, we can either convince everyone else to vote you off, or you can join us in our meetings, provided that the other guys agree."

The two girls were slightly surprised at the offer and huddled together.

"What do you think? Should we join them?" Roserade asked Gardevoir.

"Well, they don't seem like a bad group of people. I mean, Kingdra has been pretty nice to most of the people here and none of them have many enemies. Plus, it gives us a good way to talk with Lucario and Zoroark."

"You have a point there. Plus, Bisharp seemed very sincere when he answered our questions. I say we go for it."

Both of them turned back towards Bisharp. "We'll join you guys." Roserade said.

Bisharp smiled as he turned toward the other members of the war council, "Are you guys okay with them joining us?"

"I don't mind." Kingdra said with a nod.

"I'm fine with it." Zoroark answered.

"I have no objections." Lucario said calmly.

Bisharp nodded, "I should welcome you to our ranks then. Now to get to business." He pulled out his list and chessboard and explained to Roserade and Gardevoir what the group already knew about the competition. The two were impressed.

"Now today's elimination. While we can take this opportunity to vote off Spiritomb as the leader of the other team, I am more concerned with Magmar. She's a real threat as her anger issues will definitely cause more trouble for our team. I also hear that many others are voting her off as well. So even if we try to vote off Spiritomb, Magmar might get voted off instead. We could endanger ourselves to being Spiritomb's enemy and we don't want that. So our best course of action tonight is to vote off Magmar. She might hate us for it, but it's for the best. Everyone agree?" There were no objections. "Great, meeting adjourned, meet back here after the next challenge."

**000**

**Gardevoir: I was worried at first when we found out about them, but now, I'm relieved; we know that those guys aren't doing anything evil.**

**000**

At the campfire ceremony, everyone had gathered. Latios and Latias were floating with a poffin case.

"Well, well, well, everyone seems to have voted already, wonder who's going home. Will it be a Lugia, or will it be a Ho-oh?" Some Pokemon exchanged uneasy glances.

Latias continued "The following Pokemon are safe, Bisharp, Gardevoir, Spinarak, Sawk, and Altaria." The five Pokemon went up and got their poffins.

"Lucario, Kingdra, Chinchou, Aron, Deerling, Joltik. You guys are safe as well." The Pokemon went up to get their poffins. "Magneton, Zoroark, Espeon, Absol, Lampent are also safe." Over half the Pokemon have been declared safe.

"Serperior, Spiritomb, Schuckle, Blitzle, Klink and Rotom are safe as well." They went to receive their poffins.

"Cloyster, Feebas, and Roserade, you three are also safe tonight." Only four Pokemon remained, Persian, Zangoose, Magmar and Stunfisk.

"Zangoose and Persian, you two are safe." They sighed in relief as they got their poffins.

"Well, well quite a surprise, the last two are both from the same team, and the Lugias might I add." Latias said, quite amused, "I would have thought you guys might vote someone off from the Ho-Ohs with your numbers and all, but I digress. The last poffin tonight goes to…"

Stunfisk looked worried, Magmar's brow furrowed.

"Stunfisk. I'm sorry Magmar, but you'll be leaving tonight."

As Stunfisk relaxed, Magmar stood up. "How the hell could you vote for me?" She shouted. "We outnumbered them! Why did you vote for your own teammate?" Directing her attention to her team.

"Hey, you're one to talk." Latias interrupted. "You voted for Stunfisk."

Stunfisk groaned, "Why am I not surprised?"

"Well you know what? Screw all of you! Oh and Latias? I was the one who destroyed the challenge shack! But since I've been eliminated, you can't do anything about it. So, hah!"

Latias stared in shock, her eye began to twitch. Latios noticed this and began to restrain her.

"I could use a little help here!" He shouted as Sawk, Zoroark and Bisharp came to help just as Latias was about to blow.

**000**

**Magmar: This freaking sucks! Not only am I the first female out of the competition, but I also get voted off by my own team! What the hell? They don't know a useful team member from a bad one! I don't really care who wins, as long as it isn't Stunfisk. He just pisses me off! So, as I leave, I'll say this, screw you all!**

**000**

As an angry Magmar departed, everyone just stood in silence.

"She's finally gone, I can breathe a little easier now." Stunfisk said exhaling.

"I think we all can." Roserade added.

A long silence followed.

"Well I'm going to bed." Zangoose said, breaking it. "Who knows what challenge they'll concoct next."

"Agreed."

"Yeah."

"I was thinking the same exact series of thoughts!"

Everyone left to go to bed, sweet dreams all around.

* * *

><p>This chapter actually took longer than I thought, I had a hard time with the middle, but it slowly came to me and I sped up at the end.<p>

I'll try to update faster, but I don't know, I have a lot of things to deal with.

Magmar, nothing can be really said about her, she was just a character that got angry easily, especially when it came to Stunfisk and his sarcastic remarks.

With the craps game, I simplified it a little bit as it's so much more complicated in real life.

There are a couple of references here and there, see if you can find them.

**Magmar: Review or I'll burn you to cinders!**

* * *

><p>Next time: It's phobia time! The campers get to face their worst fears when Latias's invites some old friends to come visit. Pasts are revealed and one Pokemon is in for a nasty shock that haunts them for the rest of their stay. Once the challenge ends, one spooked contestant goes home.<p> 


	8. Not so Sweet Dreams

**New chapter and I've really been looking forward to this one, heh heh heh.**

**DA, congrats on great chapters as usual and I hope you like what I've done here.  
><strong>

* * *

><p>"Last time on Pokemon Drama Island!" Latias shouted. "We had our campers compete in our casino challenge in our newly made challenge shack! During the challenge, Rotom seemed to have some problems as he accidently tattled on Lampent about her pranking antics which pretty much ruined their friendship. Stunfisk and Magmar's conflict escalated to new heights to the point where Magmar destroyed all of the casino items and almost the whole shack. I was so angry that no one got invincibility and anyone could get voted off. Meanwhile, Gardevoir and Roserade had to stop their spying as Bisharp and his war council members found them out. But he offered them a friendly hand and they joined the war council. That night at elimination, it was down to Magmar and Stunfisk, Magmar getting the boot. Today is the classic phobia challenge but we're changing it up a bit. Who will be able to endure their greatest fear and who will stay spooked? Find out on Pokemon. Drama. Island!"<p>

**000**

Roserade was sitting in a large meadow surrounded by flowers. She looked up at the sky; it was a clear blue with a nice bright sun and a few clouds floating by.

"This place is perfect." She said as she sighed and laid down on her back. "Nothing could ruin this moment."

She heard footsteps and shot up. She saw Lucario walking towards her.

"Hey, how are you doing?" He asked Roserade.

She nodded, "Perfect, this place is like my personal paradise."

He smiled, "That's great. What would you think of it of I-" Lucario slowly transformed "-destroyed it?"

Lucario had turned into Magmar, a sinister smile formed on her lips, her eyes a crimson red. She inhaled and shot out a Flamethrower attack on the surrounding area. The flames quickly spread, engulfing everything. Roserade just stared in horror as Magmar continued to shoot jets of flame.

"Stop it!" Ropserade cried. "Please, stop!"

Her pleas fell on deaf ears as Magmar continued, the flames engulfing the whole meadow. Roserade fell on her knees and began to cry into her bouquets, still asking Magmar to stop.

When Roserade looked up, everything was charred black, nothing was left, not even a single blade of grass. She looked around, no sign of Magmar. She brushed the ground for any sign of life. None. She slowly put both of her bouquets on the ground, crying silently.

"No, it can't be, I never wanted this. Why dammit! Why?" She screamed.

**000**

Roserade shot awake, frantically looking around her. She was on a bed in the challenge shack, the place was still burnt, except for a small part in the back, due to Magmar's tantrum during the last challenge. She tried to think why she was here of all places.

Roserade groaned as she remembered, "That's right." She said to herself. "The challenge…"

**000**

Earlier that morning, Latias had called everyone out to meet in front of the challenge shack after breakfast. The outside wasn't any different. Both Latias and Latios were floating outside.

"Hello, campers and welcome back to the challenge shack!" Latias said happily.

"And why are we here again? You know that Magmar pretty much destroyed the inside of the building." Stunfisk drawled.

"Ignoring the flounder, today we have a special treat for you all but first, I want you to meet some of my old friends." Latios opened the door, revealing two Pokemon the contestants had never seen.

The first Pokemon was pitch-black except for his red necklace and white hair. He had an icy blue stare that could see into the depths of one's soul. The second Pokemon had the figure of a swan with a crescent-shaped head. She also had pink rings on her sides and back. The first one made Deerling scream and hide behind Blitzle.

"Everyone say hello to our college buddies Darkrai and Cresselia. They'll be helping out in today's challenge." Latias said smiling.

"What is the challenge?" Joltik asked, who was crawling on Aron.

"A classic." Latios answered. "The fear challenge." A couple campers gasped.

"Don't steal my thunder." Latias said crossly, "But yes, today is the fear challenge, you'll have to face your fear or relive your worst memory. But, we've added a little twist to it. You'll be facing your fear in your dreams, or rather, nightmares!" More gasps were heard. "Yup, we're going to put you to sleep and then Darkrai here is going to use Nightmare to start the challenge. Everyone will be provided with some special earmuffs to cancel out all outside noise, including snoring, screaming and groans. You'll be put in the challenge shack and when you wake up from your nightmare, you are to come out and put your earmuffs in the bin. You'll then receive a Lunar Wing that Cresselia has kindly donated to help you forget about your nightmare. We'll be monitoring you all so if we see you wake, you're out, no faking sleep. The last Pokemon to wake up will earn their team invincibility."

"So, how are you going to put us to sleep?" Altaria asked.

"With the sleeping pills we spiked your food with!" Latias said cheerfully. Everyone stared at Latias in shock.

"You spiked our foods?" Zangoose shouted. "That sounds like something Cloyster would do!"

"THAT IS CORRECT!" someone shouted in the back.

"Well we did." Latias said. She checked her watch. "And they should be acting in three…two…one."

As soon as she stopped counting, everyone fell asleep, collapsed on the ground except for two Pokemon.

"I kinda have insomnia since it's my ability." Spinarak said shyly.

"BZZT. NO NEED TO POWER DOWN. NO INDICATION OF DROWSINESS. ERGO NO NEED TO SLEEP. BZZT."

"Well both of you are disqualified." Latias said as she and the other legendaries put earmuffs on the sleeping Pokemon and put them inside the challenge shack. "You can just wait out here then, no need to give you a Lunar Wing or anything."

"Oh, alright then." Spinarak crawled up a tree and using her web, she just hung there, waiting for someone to come out.

"BZZT. UNDERSTOOD. GOING INTO SLEEP MODE. BZZT." Magneton just floated in place, unmoving.

**000**

Roserade sighed as she got out of her bed. The nightmare seemed so real that she couldn't shake it. She noticed a couple beds were already empty. Some others might have already woken up. She went outside into the blinding sunlight, dropped her earmuffs into a bin and grabbed a lunar wing. She saw that Deerling, Stunfisk, Magneton, Feebas, Spinarak and surprisingly, Cloyster, were already outside, waiting. Deerling had already fainted, turns out, she woke up less than a minute after the challenge began since she was afraid of almost everything, and it didn't help that Darkrai was right in front of her. Stunfisk's dream involved him getting cooked then eaten, both courtesy of Magmar. Feebas had dreamt that she was stuck in a ring of fire unable to get out, causing her to wake up. Cloyster however wouldn't say anything about his, when the subject was brought up, he went into his normal crazy laughter, with a hint of insanity though. They sat there and waited to see who would come out next.

**000**

In Zoroark's dream he was walking a long forested path. It was autumn, the leaves were falling and sunlight was shining through the leaves. He looked around, nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary, there was only one straightforward path. He looked behind him, it had been a while since he started walking and he learned to accept the silence around him. Shrugging he continued, following the path set for him.

**000**

Aron was in a cave walking around. He recognized it; it was his home, Granite Cave.

He saw a bunch other Aron and recognized them as his older siblings.

"Hey guys!" He shouted, getting their attention.

He ran over, expecting to be greeted warmly. His siblings looked at him.

"Aron, welcome back." one of them said. "You're just in time for dinner."

Aron's eyes brightened, "Really? Where's the steel?"

"Steel? Oh no, there's no more steel left in this world." one of them answered.

Aron stared in shock. "No…steel? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" He cried as he woke up out his nightmare.

**000**

**Aron: I just can't imagine a world without steel. It's a like a world without air, I can't live!**

**000**

Joltik was standing in large dark space. He looked around, nobody.

"Hello? Anyone?" his questions only echoed through the darkness

"Anyone? Can anyone hear me?" no answer again.

Joltik realized, he was alone, no one else but him. His little eyes bugged out and began shivering. He hated being alone, especially when it was dark like his surroundings. He closed his eyes, hoping that it this would end by the time he opened them.

**000**

Klink was having a similar dream to Joltik's as they both were surrounding by pitch-black darkness. The gears looked around, no one in sight.

"Is anyone there?" the gears said in unison. Like Joltik, they got no answer.

"No one seems to be here." they said simultaneously. Then they felt something strange, the teeth of their gears weren't touching each other, they were moving apart from one another. They proceeded to freak out.

"No! Don't separate us!" they shouted. They tried getting closer, but no matter what they did, they kept moving farther and farther apart. Eventually they couldn't see each other anymore. That's when they woke up and realized it was just a really bad dream.

**000**

**Klink: We never want to be separated from each other. We can't live without the other!**

**000**

Persian was standing on a rock which was barely balanced on a very jagged stone spike coming out of the ground. Looking down, Persian saw that she was surrounded by water. She dared not to move, the slightest bit of movement and she would fall into the water, and she hated water. As she stood, a gust of wind blew and Persian moved her paw to cover her face.

She immediately wished she didn't.

The rock started to rock back and forth and Persian was desperately trying to make sure that the rock stayed balanced and she wouldn't fall into the water. Eventually the rocking stopped and the rock was balanced. Persian let out a sigh of relief.

But it was too soon to be relieved.

The top of the spike broke off, sending the rock Persian was standing on into the water. The rock began to sink as Persian flailed around in the water, and causing her to wake up.

**000**

Sawk was looking around, he was at a spa, a nice herbal scent filling the air. He was already lying face-down on a massage table, unsure of what will happen. A door opened and a Lopunny came in.

"Hello, are you ready for your treatment?" She asked nicely.

"Yeah, but what are you doing?" Sawk asked.

"Oh, yes, you were scheduled for an acupuncture appointment today." Lopunny answered.

Sawk's face blanched immediately. He looked up to see Lopunny open a metal case full of needles. He screamed and rolled of the massage table. When he woke up, he found himself on the floor of the challenge shack.

**000**

**Sawk: I'm not exactly afraid of acupuncture, it's more so the needles. The last time I did acupuncture, they needles were put in so deep into my skin that they were thinking of surgically removing them, they were **_**this**_** close to my vitals. Yeah, it was scary.**

**000**

Back outside, Latias, Latios, Darkari and Cresselia were having a friendly conversation about the old days.

"Remember that time Tornadus and Thundurus had a race around Unova after they got drunk during the poker game we had?"Latios said while laughing.

Darkrai smirked, "I remember it too well. Landorus was so pissed when he found out they destroyed his shrine. I think he forced them to rebuild him a better one."

"Speaking of old college buddies, have you guys seen them lately?" Latias asked.

"Actually, Mew and Mewtwo came to visit us a couple months back." Cresselia answered.

"Oh, Mewtwo and Mew, remember them Latios?"

Latios grinned, "Lilycove. Funniest shit ever." Latias began to laugh, she too, remembered.

Latias stopped laughing for a moment, "So, what,haha, were they doing there?"

"They were hosting the show, you know, the one that was offered as a promotion." Cresselia answered.

Latios stopped laughing, "Wait didn't-oh yeah, I forgot, he cheated. No wonder Celebi is still pissed."

Darkrai nodded, "Yeah, I heard she found him about a couple weeks back and beat him up quite badly."

"He deserves it." Latias said. "I mean, he pretty much destroyed their relationship with that one move."

"Speaking of destroyed relationships," Cresselia said, directing her attention to Latios, "How are things patching up between you and Melotta?"

Latios held his head and groaned, "First of all, I regret entering that relationship in the first place, she was as bipolar, if not more, as my sister."

"Hey!"

"It's true and you know it!"

"Why? What went wrong?" Darkrai asked.

"Well you know how she liked to sing right?" The three other legendaries nodded. "Well, somehow, every time she sang, her personality would switch like **that**." Latios said as he snapped his fingers.

"Ancient Song." Cresselia answered. "It does that to Melotta."

"Yeah, so she could be serene and graceful at one time, then be pushy and aggressive another. It was so bad that I thought she was two different people at one point."

"So, what happened in the end again?" Latias said with a snicker.

Latios looked away in embarrassment. "Well, when I went to tell her about the breakup, she was in her pushy and aggressive state. She wasn't happy when she heard the news and…she beat me up."

The three other legendaries roared with laughter.

"Ahahahaha! Latios got beat up by a girl!" Latias barely managed to say as she laughed.

"Wow, I'm sorry my friend but that was just sad." Darkrai said as he brushed a tear from his eye.

"Well I'm sorry if I don't hit girls!" Latios said in defense.

"Let's give him a break guys, at least he was being a gentleman about it-pfft, hahahahaha!" Cresselia broke into laughter again, as did Darkrai and Latias.

"Shut it!" Latios shouted over their laughs.

**000**

**Latios: I hate you Latias. You're the reason why I have to tell these stories half the time.**

**000**

Serperior was standing in a grassy field, right next to a lake, it was quite peaceful, if it weren't for the fact that Serperior had a strange look on his face. He was sweating and his left eye was twitching. In front of him was a Magikarp. This wouldn't be scary normally, but to Serperior it was horrifying.

Magikarp smiled "Hey there, let's be-" Magikarp was cut off as he emanated a harsh white light, his form slowly changing. "-friends." A giant Gyarados now took the Magikarp's. He had a menacing grin and was about three times the size of Serperior. Serperior looked in horror and screamed, thus waking him up from the nightmare.

**000**

**Serperior: When I was a Snivy, my brother "accidentally" pushed me into the Lake of Rage. There were a lot of Gyarados. *shudders***

**000**

Altaria was moving around on her bed. In her nightmare, she was put in a cage with a bunch of other Pokemon. A couple of men loaded the cage into a large van and closed the doors.

As the doors closed she asked, "Who were those people?"

"Poachers." A Driftblim answered. "They're going to ship us somewhere else far away and then sell us to other trainers for a profit. We can't escape either, the bars are charged with electricity."

Altaria was shocked. She had heard of poachers before but never thought that she would actually get caught by them. She began to cry silent tears. She was away from her friends, away from home, away from others she actually knew. She hated that kind of feeling, being alone in the world, with not even a friend to comfort her. This was too much for her and she woke up.

**000**

Bisharp was walking on Route 11 in Unova. He recognized the area since he and his group of Pawniard would often come here to hunt. He noticed a group of Pawniards and recognized them as the group he lead.

"Hey, everyone!" He called out to them. The Pawniards turned around, their eyes a blood red. They began to slowly advance towards Bisharp.

"Hey, uh, why are you looking at me like that?" He asked.

"Food…" One of the Pawniards answered.

"What? I'm not your dinner!" Bisharp shouted. He looked at himself and his eyes widened.

He was a Rufflet, not a Bisharp. The group of Pawniards began to slowly move forward, causing Bisharp, er, Rufflet to run away. He tripped on a root however and was sent tumbling. As he got up, he looked behind him and saw that the Pawniards were jumping toward him, arms about to strike. Rufflet's body was paralyzed, all he could do was shield himself with a wing, as the Pawniards began to stab at him mercilessly.

"GAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" He screamed as he shot awake, a terrified look in his eyes. He felt his chest, no signs of stab wounds anywhere. He was breathing heavily, the dream had felt so real, like he could feel every cold, sharp jab into his body. He silently took off his earmuffs and proceeded to go outside, until he heard a shout. He quickly turned around, and noticed that Joltik had woken up from his nightmare as well.

**000**

**Bisharp: I'm probably going to go vegetarian after that little experience.**

**000**

Absol was running, well more like sprinting, through a rocky mountain range, he didn't know why at first, until he saw another Absol, and another and another. They were all running away from something. He looked around and his eyes widened. A couple of other Absol were his old friends. He then heard shouting behind him and looked back. A large group of men were chasing after him and the group of Absol. He had a worried look on his face, and soon, images began to flash in his head as he began to remember the traumatic incident.

"No." He said in a grave tone. "I won't let this happen twice." He dashed off in the other direction toward the mob of angry men.

**000**

Rotom, like Klink and Joltik, was floating in a large dark space. He had tried calling out to others but had no luck, now he was floating around.

He noticed a small piece of paper in front of him. Rotom floated over and picked it up, immediately he wished he hadn't. What he held was one of the pictures Latios had put inside of the vacuum when he had been captured. Soon enough the same pictures began to appear all around him and Rotom screamed as he floated away as fast as he could, trying to get away from the pictures. However, no matter how far he'd try to run, the pictures kept following him, and he kept running. This tossing and turning eventually caused Rotom to fall out of his bed and fall on the floor, waking him up.

**000**

**Rotom: I have bad dreams about those pictures, and it isn't because anyone is using Nightmare on me, or so I think.**

**000**

**Latios: *holding a Munna* I just happened to learn that one of our Munna interns know Nightmare… *smiles***

**000**

Zangoose was surrounded and growling. She looked around her and only saw Sevipers slithering towards her. Her gaze darkened as she began to sharpen her claws. She didn't know how many there were, she counted at least fifteen, but heard many more.

"Let's dance." She said quietly as she began to charge, claws at the ready.

**000**

Chinchou was swimming as fast as she could. Chasing her were a group of Caravana, Sharpedo and Huntails. She kept flashing her lights, hoping that someone would see them and come help. She kept swimming and swimming but met a dead end. She turned around and saw the group of Pokemon behind her approaching faster. She covered her eyes and looked away, hoping that the pain would be quick. As the Pokemon got to her, Chinchou woke up, though a bit shaken.

**000**

**Chinchou: *frantically waving her arms and flashing her lights***

**000**

Blitzle was running, it was something he loved to do. However, he wasn't doing something he loved; he was running away from an ever-growing fissure behind him. He kept running and running to no end, trying to avoid getting swallowed up by the fissure. Soon he felt a strong wind, causing him to go off balance. The good news was the fissure stopped growing; the bad news was there was a tornado approaching, making Blitzle run in the opposite direction, screaming for his life.

The tornado eventually died out, allowing for Blitzle to catch his breath. He then heard a rumbling and turned around. He saw thunderclouds, he was okay with those, it was what the clouds were bringing with them he had a problem with: hail, the size of baseballs. He ran frantically trying to out-speed the storm, which he was successful in, but it had made him extremely fatigued.

Blitzle wanted to rest, he was extremely tired. All of sudden a volcano appeared out the ground and erupted.

"Really? REALLY?" He shouted, galloping away from the, lava, hoping he wouldn't get burnt. As he ran, he hoped there would be no more natural disasters. He was wrong.

All of a sudden, a giant tidal wave just mysteriously appeared out of nowhere. Blitzle just stared.

"OH COME ON!" He shouted as the tidal wave crashed, swallowing up Blitzle in the process, causing him to wake up from the nightmare.

**000**

Shuckle was sinking, and fast. The bottom half of her shell was already underneath the quicksand, now the rest of her body was being dragged underneath. She was trying to pull herself out but no progress was made. The sand had already engulfed her shell, now it was slowly advancing up her neck.

"Help!" she shouted. "Help me!"

She was struggling, the sand now halfway up her neck.

"Help! Somebody! Anybody!" She screamed frantically as she looked around her. The sand was now approaching her head. She continued shouting as her head soon went underneath the quicksand; her screams now silenced. With a start, Shuckle woke up.

**000**

As Shuckle exited the challenge shack, Latias, let out a sigh, "Thank Arceus that all the bug types are gone."

"Why don't you like bugs?" Cresselia asked. "I mean we're all weak to bug type moves but why do you hate them so much?"

"I should explain this one." Latios answered. "You two remember back in college when Latias was dating Genesect?" Darkrai and Cresselia nodded. "Well, one day they decided to visit Genesect's old buddy Volcarona. Little did they both know that Volcarona was babysitting his siblings and from what I heard, he had a **ton**." Latios said putting emphasis on the last word. "So basically, Geneset, Latias and Volcarona were stuck babysitting for the day. For some reason, I don't know why, all of the Larvesta they were taking care of started to swarm my sister and she got buried underneath a pile of bug-type Pokemon. When Genesect and Volcarona pulled off all of the Larvesta, Latias was stuck in a cocoon of String Shot and it took forever to get her out. From that day forth, Latias had developed a fear for bug-types and never spoke to Genesect again."

"In my defense, I thought I was going to be stuck in that cocoon forever!" Latias said angrily as Darkrai and Cresselia tried to hide their smiles.

**000**

**Latias: You think my fear of bugs is funny? Then you try sitting underneath a pile of random bugs and get stuck in a cocoon for 3 hours! See how THAT feels!**

**000**

Lucario was twitching as he slept. In his dream he was on a rollercoaster ride going over 100 miles per hour and he was getting very, very, dizzy. All the turns, loop-de-loops, twists and high speed were making his stomach churn. It didn't help that he was just on a tilt-a-whirl. After that had finished, he just randomly wound up stuck in a roller coaster chair, and it didn't help that he was the only one there. The roller coaster kept going faster and faster, with more sharp turns and twists as it went on. There seemed to be no end to it and he fainted, awaking from his dream moments later.

**000**

**Luario: I get motion sick…easily.**

**000**

In Kingdra's dream, he was fighting off a horde of zombies. The horde included many of the Pokemon from the island, including a zombie Pineco who was groaning in a Scottish accent. He had already defeated a large number of zombies by hitting them in the head but there was no end to them, they just kept coming and coming. He was running out of energy and they were starting to get close.

"This defies all established theories on life and death!" he shouted as he continued to attack the massive zombie army that was getting ever closer. Eventually the zombies began to overtake him and began to go for his brains, causing Kingdra to wake up from his nightmare.

**000**

Lampent was in a dark room, unable to see most of it even with her flame still on. She felt around to see if she could something that would add a little more light. She heard a creaking noise and turned around, nothing was there. She sighed and floated around, she felt a presence behind and quickly turned around.

Behind her was a Sabeleye, but it seemed a little different. It had a very large and toothy grin on its face, it's eyes were gleaming, and its head tilted at a 90 degree angle.

"hEy, HoW'S iT GoiNg?" He said in a raspy, bone-chilling voice. Lampent screamed, waking her from the nightmare.

**000**

**Lampent: I knew someone who was a Sableye and he was all sorts of creepy. He'd always look at with this strange stare and always tilted his head to the side, and keep it like that whenever he walked around. It freaked me out, it didn't seem natural.**

**000**

Zoroark was still walking through the same set of woods; nothing had changed much except for the scenery. He suddenly stopped as he heard something. He closed his eyes and listened.

Ding…Dong…Ding…Dong…

It was the sound of a large bell. Zoroark knew he was getting closer, wherever it was. He picked up the pace and continued on the path towards the sounds of the bell.

**000**

Gardevoir was grimacing. In front of her was a large screen TV. She was watching a horror movie, and boy was it gut-wrenching. She wanted to look away but her body was frozen in place. Every single bone-chilling moment, drop of blood, pained scream, and horrifying death was shown to her in high-definition.

Gardevoir wanted to scream but couldn't, her eyes still wide with horror. She closed her eyes hoping that it would be over. When she opened them, she found herself awake, chills running down her spine.

**000**

**Gardevoir: When I was a Ralts, my friend Gothita's sister Gothitelle brought us to see "The Human Scolipede". Gothita was fine, me on the other hand, let's just say I didn't sleep too well for a couple weeks.**

**000**

Spiritomb was floating in a large forest, feeling a bit uneasy. There was someone following him, but he couldn't see who. He glanced behind him sensing someone, but as usual, like the last 69 times he did so, there was no one there. He continued floating around for a couple minutes.

All of a sudden, he felt a large impact on his rock, causing him to be pushed back. He looked at his rock and his eyes widened in horror, there were a couple chips and cracks in it. He looked around frantically to find his attacker but he couldn't find them. He felt another blow to his rock causing him to flinch in pain. He looked at it again and saw more cracks and dents in it.

"No, no no no no no no…" He was whispering as the cracks started to grow and grow. Soon, the rock shattered and Spiritomb's look was one of horror.

"NNNNOOOOOOOOOOoooooooo…" He screamed as he began to fade, the 108 spirits that made up him beginning to separate and fly off in random directions. All that was left was chunks of rock that had made up his keystone. This caused Spiritomb to wake up from his dream drenched in a cold sweat.

**000**

**Spiritomb: I'm not scared that all of the spirits that make me up will fly away, it's more so the fact that I will disappear from existence.**

**000**

Espeon was a little bit uncomfortable, she was walking in around in a murky and foggy marsh. She remembered coming here as an Eevee with both her parents. When they came, Espeon had gotten lost and wandered around aimlessly. Eventually she had stumbled upon a large bubbling swamp. Curious, she had gone in at met face-to-face with a swamp monster. Espeon shuddered at the memory, the last thing she wanted to do was meet the monster again. She walked around, not knowing where she was headed.

She arrived at the end of the path; in front of her was a large muddy lake, a couple bubbles breaking through the surface. She stopped, this was just like the before, the scenery, then path's end, and a bubbling swamp. She slowly backed away, hoping that she wouldn't catch a glimpse of the swamp monster she had seen before. The lake continued to bubble, and soon, something began to rise out of the water. It was enormous and covered in mud. As Espeon continued to back away, the monster let a loud rumble. Espeon couldn't take it anymore; she turned around and ran, headfirst into a tree, knocking her out. If she had stayed a little longer, she would have realized the "monster" was only a Seismitoad waking up from an underwater nap. Nevertheless, Espeon woke up and exited out of the challenge shack.

**000**

Zangoose was out of breath. She didn't know how many Sevipers she had taken down already, they would always get back up. She grabbed one and threw it onto the ground as hard as she could. The Seviper stayed limp for a second but suddenly, it got back up, looking good as new. Zangoose stared at it shocked, before scowling.

"You don't sssssstand a chancccee against usssssss." The Sevipers echoed. Zangoose growled.

"Shut up!" She shouted, as she charged at them again and again, hoping that they would stay down and defeated.

She kept attacking and attacking, each and every Seviper that went down got back up. Zangoose eventually became too tired to continue and collapsed onto the ground. The Sevipers took this opportunity to attack. The last thing Zangoose saw were fangs of a Seviper.

**000**

When she awoke, Zangoose wasn't happy, she couldn't believe that she had lost to Sevipers, her sworn enemy, it left a bitter taste in her mouth. She looked around, only Absol and Zoroark were left. She took off her earmuffs and walked outside after grabbing a Lunar Wing. When she went outside, she saw that everyone was discussing what they had to face, though Rotom was trying to get Lampent's attention, though he was failing. Zangoose smirked as Altaria and some of the other campers walked towards her.

"So, who's left?" Altaria asked.

"Absol and Zoroark." Zangoose replied. "Whoever wakes up first will decide the challenge."

Everyone murmured in agreement. They were thinking about something else though, what were those two dreaming about and why was it taking so long?

**000**

Absol had found the angry mob of men were in sight. It looked like they were setting up something. Upon closer inspection, it looked like a catapult. The men were opening their Pokeballs containing Voltorbs and Electrodes and were loading them onto the catapult. Absol remembered what happened on this day and realized what they were going to do. Sprinting, he headed back as fast as he could to the other group of Absol.

**000**

Zoroark was still walking through the forest, though the sound of the bell was getting louder and louder. He looked up ahead and saw a grassy field past an opening in the woods.

"Finally, some answers." He muttered to himself. Picking up the pace, he jogged toward the end of the forest, hoping he would find out what this dream would lead him to.

**000**

Absol finally caught up with his group. They were still sprinting away, but Absol knew it wasn't far enough.

"EVERYONE, MOVE FASTER!" He shouted to the group. They didn't hear him. Scowling, he tried again.

"EVERYBODY, GET OUT OF HERE!" He shouted again, there was still no response.

He cursed, he had to try something else. He turned around and ran back, hoping that it wasn't too late.

**000**

As Zoroark arrived at the open field, he saw the source of the bell tolls, a large white church. He walked up to the church and knocked. No response. He looked around to see if anyone was nearby. In the distance, he noticed a Pokemon standing there. He jogged over to see who it was.

**000**

Absol was running back to the where he saw the group of men setting up the catapult. As he ran back, he noticed something in the sky; it was the Voltorbs and Electrodes that were put in the catapult earlier. His eyes widened, was he too late? No, there was still something he could do. He began focusing energy in his horn as he hoped he wasn't too late.

**000**

Zoroark finally reached the figure he had just seen. It was a Slowking. He was holding a black book, Zoroark guessed it was a bible.

Slowking looked around, "Is this it?" He asked. He got no response. "Very well, let's begin." He opened his book and began reciting some lines out of it as Zoroark looked around. There was a tombstone and in front of it, there was a rectangular hole. Inside the hole was a black coffin. He also saw a large mound of dirt with a shovel in it. Zoroark realized this was a funeral, but for who exactly?

**000**

Absol had finished charging energy in his horn. With a cry, he let loose multiple rounds of Razor Wind at the airborne electric-types. He hoped that it would send them off course a little bit, but his hopes were dashed as he saw when the collision.

Instead of hitting them, the Razor Wind harmlessly passed through the Electrodes and Voltorbs, not even changing their course in the slightest.

Absol's eyes widened in horror as he saw them continue to fly. They eventually hit a faraway mountain range, and exploded. Absol didn't need to go over there to know what had happened. The dream was replaying his most agonizing memory, the day he lost everything.

He remembered the scene too well after the explosion. He was the only one left after the explosion that changed him forever. Everyone around him was dead, crushed by falling rocks or severely injured after the explosion. By some strange miracle, he was still alive without a scratch on him, but he wish he had been dead on that day. That explosion had taken away everything from him, his friends family, even home, were gone.

Absol began to cry as he remembered the day, he wanted out of this dream, he wished he could have woken up earlier, the pain wasn't worth the immunity.

"WHY ARCEUS WHY?" He screamed at the top of his lungs as he continued to cry, hoping that the dream would end soon.

**000**

Zoroark was trying to get the Slowking's attention. He wanted to know whose funeral this was for and why there wweren't many people here. He tried to get Slowking to talk to him but was unsuccessful. Sighing, he thought the best way to figure this out was by looking at the tombstone itself. He crouched down to get a good look at the tombstone. As he read, his eyes began to widen, his lips beginning to tremble. When he finished, he stood back up, and looked over at Slowking, fear in his eyes.

"H-hey, you've got to be kidding me right?" He said, his voice very shaky. Slowking kept reciting, ignoring Zoroark.

"This is a joke right?" Zoroark shouted, trying to grab hold of Slowking. As he touched Slowking's shoulders, his hands passed right through the body. Zoroark backed away, shocked. He wasn't sure if this was real or imaginary, all he knew was that he was scared. He looked back at the coffin, a cracked smile forming on his face.

"Okay guys, very funny, you can stop now, ha ha." He said, his voice cracked and wavering. His eyes never left the coffin, his fear reflected on its glossy black surface.

He suddenly dropped onto his knees, his head hanging low, arms limp at his sides.

"WWWAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" He clutched his head with both hands as he let out a blood curdling scream, tears streaming down his face.

**000**

"AHHHHHHHHHH!" Zoroark screamed as he shot awake. He was breathing heavily, his eyes wide in fear, a cold sweat drenching his body. He looked around, Latias, Latios and almost everyone else had come in. It was all just a dream, just a freaking dream. Latias looked at him in concern as he took off his earmuffs.

"You okay there? You gave us quite the scare." She said.

"Yeah. I'm fine, just a bad dream, but it's to be expected right?" He answered with a weak laugh. "So who won?"

"You guys did, Absol woke up about fifteen seconds before you did." Latias answered.

Zorark gave a weak smile, "I see, that's good, least I don't have to worry about getting voted off." He got off his bed and walked outside.

As he walked out, he approached Kingdra, "Tell Bisharp I won't be at the meeting today, I need some time to be alone." Kingdra nodded in understanding and Zoroark smiled as he left everyone.

**000**

**Gardevoir: As Zoroark left I tried to feel his emotions. I couldn't discern many of them but there was one I could definitely feel: hurt.**

**000**

All of Bisharp's war council members had gathered in the forest, minus Zoroark. Since they had more members, they needed to find a larger place for them to gather.

"So Zoroark isn't coming today?" Bisharp asked.

Kingdra nodded, "That's what he told me when he left."

"Fine. After that challenge it's understandable why he needs a break. We'll have to start the meeting without him then."

Bisharp turned back towards everyone else, "So, today we need to figure out how we are going to make Spiritomb mess up. Their most powerful piece, Cryogonal, is gone but there is still someone on that team that can become as powerful as him so be on the lookout." Everyone there nodded their heads.

Bisharp continued, "Since they've lost this challenge, it's the almost time for Spiritomb to start taking control. We can have them keep losing and then take a shot at him, or we can have them win maybe two of the next couple challenges so that his authority diminishes and then strike him down. Basically, plan A is to strike while the iron is hot, while plan B is to let things mellow out and see what will happen. Any suggestions?"

Roserade raised a hand, "Let's wait and see on the next challenge, if we win it, we can go with plan A, if we don't, plan B. How does that sound?"

Bisharp smiled, "That's a perfectly reasonable suggestion, any objections?" No one said a thing. "I'll tell Zoroark about our plan later so he isn't left out of it. Meeting adjourned."

**000**

**Roserade: I've got to admit, this war council is pretty good, everyone here is very smart and there are no ill intentions at all. And there's also another plus here…**

**000**

That night, all of the Ho-Ohs were gathered around the campfire pit. Latias and Latios were holding the poffin case.

"Back here again I see." Latias remarked. "Well I know you all have had a long day so we'll throw you your poffins." She grabbed a couple out of the case. "Let's see, Chinchou, Feebas, Zangoose, Absol and Cloyster all get one." She tossed the poffins and all the Pokemon caught theirs, while Cloyster just let out a cackle.

"Sawk, Altaria, Serperior, Aron, and Spiritomb, you guys get poffins as well." Latias said as she threw the poffins. "Three of you left huh?" Latias said. Magneton, Persian and Deerling were the only ones left who hadn't gotten their poffins yet.

"Well, the person leaving today is…Deerling." Deerling looked shocked as Magneton and Persian caught their poffins.

"Sorry Deerling but your time is up, please get your things and go home." Latias said consolingly.

Deerling put on a small smile, "Its f-fine. I u-understand." She walked away to grab her things.

**000**

**Sawk: Nothing personal against you Deerling, but you haven't been performing the best. We just had no other choice.**

**000**

**Spiritomb: While she isn't my ideal candidate to vote off, I feel that it was for the best.**

**000**

As she walked to the cabin, Deerling noticed Blitzle running over.

"Hey." He said. "I heard about the elimination, sorry about what happened."

"I-Its okay, its f-for the best of the t-team." She replied.

"Yeah but it really sucks you're leaving already, I just wished you could stay a little longer."

"H-hey, don't worry, w-we'll see each other a-again."

Bltizle smiled, "You're telling me not to worry? Have we switched roles or something?" They both laughed.

As they stopped laughing, Blitzle spoke. "So, I'll see you around?"

Deerling smiled, "You bet." And she quickly pecked him on the cheek, causing both of them to blush.

**000**

**Deerling: W-well my time here w-was short, but I t-think my c-confidence issues g-got better when I was h-here, p-plus I go to meet m-more people here. Blitzle, I h-hope you win, but if F-feebas, Chinchou, or Aron wins, I'll b-be happy with it. B-bye now!**

**000**

Serpeior, Altaria, Zangoose, Sawk, Feebas and Chincou were hiding in the bushes and saw the exchange between Deerling and Blitzle.

"Alright, pay up." Zangoose said, as the guys handed the girls two dollars each.

**000**

Zoroark was sitting on the dock. He saw Darkrai and Cresselia leave earlier after the two had left a movie Latias set up in the challenge shack, it had sounded pretty lively in there, but he was more concerned with his own problems. He looked at his reflection in the water; there was no difference between the look in his eyes as when they were reflected in the water than they were reflected on the coffin in his dream.

Sighing, he moved the fur on his right arm a little bit. Underneath was a large scab surrounded by some smaller ones. All of them had a tinge of a sickly purple. Zoroark sighed as he removed his hand from his arm and stared back at the water.

"A little longer." He thought. "Just a little longer and this living nightmare will all be over."

* * *

><p>Finally, chapter is DONE! Lots of interesting things happened, am I right?<p>

First off, if you can't find the references, you are legally b-l-i-n-d. They are just too obvious.

Deerling and Blitzle, everyone saw that coming. Waaaaayy too obvious, I am officially making future couples more discreet.

First of all, I DO NOT consider Volcarona a legendary. It's the only powerful bug-type Pokemon you can interact with and it can breed. Plus, you find it in a historical place and since Genesect is an ancient Pokemon, using Volcarona as Genesect's friend is perfect.

Secrets have been revealed! Comment what was the most dramatic in this chapter in your reviews, as well as scariest, and funniest, fear. Here's a list:

Roserade-Environmental destruction

Deerling-Too many to list

Stunfisk-Cooked, eaten and Magmar

Feebas-Fire

Magneton-Unknown

Spinarak-Unknown

Cloyster-Unknown

Aron-No steel in the world

Joltik-Stuck alone

Klink-Being separated

Persian-Water

Sawk-Needles

Serperior-Gyarados

Altaria-Being somewhere she has no idea about

Bisharp-Being the prey of a predator

Rotom-The pictures Latios showed him

Chinchou-Being hunted by other Pokemon

Blitzle-Natural disasters

Shuckle-Quicksand

Lucario-Rollercoasters

Kingdra-Zombies

Lampent-Sableye

Gardevoir-Horror movies

Spiritomb-Disappearing from existence

Espeon-Swamps and swamp monsters

Zangoose-Losing to Sevipers

Absol-Reminded of the day he lost everything

Zoroark-Unknown

* * *

><p>Now, MINI CONTEST TIME!<p>

**Since I didn't reveal Zoroark's, Magneton's, Spinarak's or Cloyster's fears, you guys get to guess them! The rules are simple, in your review, put what you think each character's fear is. You can also PM me your guesses for each character but I will only allow each person to PM me three times max. If you do PM more than three times, I will be forced to take the first three PMs, after that, your guesses are invalid. You are allowed to put multiple characters in your PMs however, so you can send three or four characters' fears at once. You have until my next chapter to submit your guesses. However, I am extending the time for everyone to submit guesses for Zoroark's fear. The reason is that I'll reveal a little more about his fear in the next chapter, so you have until the chapter after that to submit guesses. You'll get three more starting the next chapter. The person with the most right guesses or closest ones by the end of the next two chapters will be allowed to submit a challenge idea for a future chapter OR learn when if their favorite character will win. If they don't, the winner will learn when and how they get voted off. Good luck to all of you!**

* * *

><p><strong>Deerling: P-Please review e-everyone<strong> **or you'll b-be f-forced to live a n-nightmare.**

* * *

><p>Next time: Its karaoke night at the island and everyone is getting ready. Some wow the judges while others fall flat. One Pokemon decides to make their move while another continues to force others away. At the end of the night, surprising elimination is made and another Pokemon leaves the game.<p> 


	9. Singing Sensations! Spiritomb's Surprise

**Mini-contest results Part 1 results: XReaperBlade and the epic Magikarp are in the lead. While their guesses for the fears are close, they aren't correct. Which guesses they are I will not tell, you'll find out eventually, even if it takes a whole season. So, onto the chapter! But first, a disclaimer!**

**Disclaimer: None of the songs used in this chapter I own, they belong to the artists and whatever record label owns them.**

"Last time on Pokemon Drama Island." Latios said, a bored expression on his face. "We decided to let the campers take a crack at the good old fear challenge. We brought our good friends Darkrai and Cresselia to assist us in the challenge since the campers had to face their fears in their dreams. While some woke up earlier a few managed to hold on until the end, namely Absol and Zoroark. Absol's dream involved him in reliving the worst day in his life, something he never wished to see. Zoroark's dream had him at a cemetery and witnessing a funeral, who's it was exactly we don't know but he seemed very, very scared about it. In the end, Zoroark held on the longest, sending the Ho-Ohs back to elimination after their 2-win streak. Deerling, the scaredy-cat, was sent home but not after getting together with Blitzle. As me, Latias, Darkrai and Cresselia were watching Inception, Zoroark revealed a nasty looking scar that he had hidden from all of us except himself. What is the significance behind this scar and why doesn't he get it treated? Only time will tell. Today, the contestants need to warm up their voices as they've got to sing their hearts out. There will be some surprises, and a shocking elimination. What will happen? Join us today on Pokemon. Drama. Island."

**000**

A silhouetted figure was alone in the middle of the forest. They were in deep thought.

"It's time…" They whispered. "I've gotten far enough, now for my plan to begin."

**000**

"Deerling? That's kind of a strange choice." Klink remarked. He and Rotom had heard about what happened between Blitzle and Deerling after the elimination.

"Hey, he likes who he likes alright? No need to get pushy." Rotom said in a joking tone.

Blitzle smiled, "What he said. By the way Rotom, how's it going between you and Lampent?"

Rotom frowned. "As much as I would love to say it's going great and we're going to get married tomorrow, it isn't."

"Dude, Stunfisk is rubbing off on you." Blitzle remarked.

"I know."

"So, how bad is it?" Kink asked.

"She's giving me death glares every time she looks at me and whenever I try to talk to her, she just pulls away and goes to talk to Espeon or Spinarak. I mean all I did was rat her out by accident and one thing led to another and now this."

"Give her a little time to simmer down. She might have just overreacted a little bit." Klink reasoned.

"Hopefully that's the case." Rotom said sighing.

**000**

"He's so annoying!" Lampent shouted.

"Really? Rotom doesn't seem all that bad." Spinarak remarked.

"I know but whenever I think of him, I think of how he lied to me, thinking that I would understand and forgive him for his slip-up!"

"Are you sure he wasn't speaking the truth? Maybe you just overreacted to the situation." Espeon reasoned.

"Maybe, but it doesn't make me any less angry about it." Lampent responded.

**000**

**Spinarak: I kinda think Lampent's blowing this whole thing out of proportion. Why can't the two just forgive and forget? That's always worked for me.**

**000**

"Attention all campers!" Blared the intercom. "Come to the stage area that we had our interns set up overnight. It's in a clearing in the woods!" Obviously, Latias had a challenge for them today, no one was happy. Grudgingly, everyone went towards the place Latias had specified. They were greeted with two sets of large, wooden bleachers, a very large stage, a pile of random sleeping interns and the host and co-host, the former was covering her nose for some reason and the latter looked very pissed off. As the contestants got close, they got a whiff of a foul odor, causing them to immediately step back.

"Ugh, what is that smell?" Stunfisk said as everyone pinched their nose, or tried to at least.

Latias spoke, though her voice was muffled due to her hand. "Unfortunately, Latios was greeted by a pile of smelly clothes and trash when he tried to go out of his cabin. When he tried to take a shower, someone swapped the clean water pipe with the sewage pipe." A couple people grimaced. "Yeah, it wasn't pretty."

"I didn't mean Latios I meant you." Stunfisk commented. "His smell I can deal with, you on the other hand, ick."

"What was that legless?" Latias shouted.

As Latias unleashed her rage onto Stunfisk, Rotom began to slowly move behind Magneton.

**000**

**Rotom: Yeah, I'm back to pranking Latios. Just because Lampent isn't by my side doesn't mean I have to stop, though I really do wish she could help. Sigh…**

**000**

Stunfisk was barely identifiable after Latias's wrath. He was a smoking pile of who-knows-what which Spinarak kept poking. Latias didn't use any fire-type moves.

"Moving along." Latias said as she dusted her hands."Today's challenge involves singing!" Both cheers and groans came from the contestants. One Pokemon in particular was freaking out though.

"Everyone will be given a song, selected by drawing from a box which contains every single song known. You will be forced to sing it later tonight. And when I say everyone, I mean everyone, even you Chinchou."

Chinchou gulped, she was very nervous.

**000**

**Chinchou: *Lights flashing on and off as she freaks out and hyperventilates.***

**000**

**Serperior: Yeah, Chinchou's toast.**

**000**

Latias continued "You will be judged by both me and Latios. Whoever does the best wins challenges for their team. Now come up and get your songs!" One by one, all the competitors went up, picking their songs out of the box Latios held while holding their breath.

**000**

**Shuckle: *turns red* They want me to sing this?**

**000**

**Bisharp: Fitting. I shouldn't do too badly.**

**000**

**Altaria: This is perfect.**

**000**

**Persian: Wha? I can't sing this!**

**000**

**Spiritomb: Hmmm, I like this but I must hold back, I might cast some unnecessary suspicion on myself.**

**000**

**Roserade: Hmm, a male artist but I think I can really make it work.**

**000**

**Serperior: Uhh, is this even in English?**

**000**

**Blitzle: Not my first choice, but it'll have to do.**

**000**

**Rotom: I really don't like this song, wonder if I can trade…**

**000**

**Aron: Hey I know this! It suits me perfectly!**

**000**

**Sawk: Why Arceus why? *hits his head on the wall***

**000**

**Stunfisk: *long series of bleeps* This is rigged I tell you!**

**000**

**Lampent: Not a big fan of this genre or song, but it'll have to do.**

**000**

**Espeon: Okay, I'll do my best.**

**000**

**Cloyster: Kah kah kah! My win is assured! The proof is in the pudding, the pudding of my victory!**

**000**

**Spinarak: If I have to, but I really don't want to…**

**000**

**Kingdra: *nodding slowly* This will be a very good performance.**

**000**

**Magneton: BZZT. SEARCHING FOR SONG IN DATABANK. SONG FOUND. UPLOADING SONG. BZZT.**

**000**

**Joltik: Umm, what?**

**000**

**Chinchou: *still freaking out, though a bit flustered***

**000**

**Feebas: Oh my gosh! I love this song!**

**000**

**Gardevoir: I can't think of a better choice.**

**000**

**Zangoose: *punches a hole in the side of the confessional***

**000**

**Lucario: …alright.**

**000**

**Klink: We're not sure this'll work…**

**000**

**Absol: …**

**000**

**Zoroark: *sighs* I really wish I could have gotten a better song, not that mine sucks, I just don't want to do it.**

**000**

Absol was curled up underneath a tree. He was thinking about the memory that had affected him so deeply. On that day he wasn't surprised that he was running, he had done this many times. Absol were always thought to be omens of bad luck and were often chased away because of it. But that time was different, those men, they ahd formed an angry mob. They didn't want to drive him and the other Absol out, those men had wanted to exterminate the whole group. Other Absol had sensed the mens's approach, they alerted the other Absol and soon, everyone was running. They continued to run as fast as they could, as far as their legs could take them. Unfortunetly it wasn't enough. The explosions caused by the flying Voltorb and Electrode reached them and destroyed the whole area. There was only one survivor, himself. To others it would seem like a blessing from Arceus, to him, it was a curse. It was him vs. the world, he had to act alone and had been that way ever since. Nothing could heal those emotional scars that he had traveled with; the deaths of his friends and family had hurt him and his former self, now destroyed, replaced by a cold exterior.

He heard the sound of familiar footsteps. He grunted, she was back, no doubt to ask him about what happened during the previous challenge.

"So, are you going back to your old self?" she asked. Her tone was different, more serious and yet calm, unlike her normal cheerful voice.

"What do you care? I've been alone for a long time now, and I always will be." He responded, a coldness entering his tone.

"I just want to know, why have you done this? Did the challenge affect you that much?"

"It's none of your concern what happened. It's mine and mine alone."

"There you go again, pushing people away. You should open up again, no need to close yourself in, I'm willing to help, just let me know what's ailing you."

Absol was getting frustrated, "Listen!" He shouted as he got up. "I don't need you butting into my business! Quit annoying me and-"He stopped, there was no one nearby.

He groaned, he was just imagining things, that wasn't a good sign. He laid back down and closed his eyes, getting some rest before he had to sing.

**000**

Nearby, behind the Ho-Oh cabin, Espeon and Kingdra were chatting.

"So, how do things look with Absol?" Kingdra asked.

Espeon shook her head, "Not good, he's starting to go back. He's just opened himself up, now he's closing back up. It's a good thing I teleported away before he actually saw me. What do you think is going on?"

Kingdra was thinking, "My guess is his mask has been chipped. We're getting closer, but now he's put up a shield. Thankfully, it's fragile. A well aimed strike should break both it, and the mask."

Espeon's eyes widened, "You're good."

**000**

**Espeon: Kingdra's insight on Absol is very helpful and he seems to understand others very well. I just wonder why he isn't a psychologist.**

**000**

**Kingdra: I've dabbled a little bit in psychology, though my true passion is to be a scholar. But who knows what I'll do in the future, that is for fate to decide.**

**000**

"Blitzle! Wait up!" A voice called out.

Blitzle turned around, he saw Rotom floating behind him. "Hey, what's up?" Blitzle asked the Ghost-type.

"Just wondering, would you like to trade songs?" Rotom asked, holding out his slip of paper.

Blitzle raised an eyebrow. "Why would you want to do that?"

"I'm not a big fan of my song, seems like something you would like to sing. Take a look if you want."

Blitzle quickly scanned the slip of paper and beamed, "Yeah, I'll take it. I didn't really like my song either to be honest. Here, take it." The two swapped their slips of paper. Rotom grinned happily.

"You didn't get such a bad song, these guys are good." He remarked.

Blitzle shrugged, "Eh, I like em, but I like this song better."

"Alright then, see you later tonight!" Rotom said as he waved and floated away.

**000**

**Rotom: This song is perfect! Maybe I can apologize to Lampent with this song! Yeah! It totally works!**

**000**

Spiritomb was happy, tonight he would finally be rid of Persian. When he first picked his song, he disliked it greatly. But a quick Trick later and he received the better song, while **she** would have to sing his original pick. She would definitely hate it, anyone would, well, maybe except the artist. Her horrendous performance would definitely land her in elimination sometime soon. Coupled with the fact her reluctance to do challenges and her high-and-mighty attitude, her removal would be a cinch. He smiled devilishly, everything was being handed to him on a silver platter. If only Cryogonal didn't get eliminated, things would have been so much sweeter. He continued to float along the beach, unaware that someone behind him was giving him intense glares.

**000**

Evening soon arrived and everyone had gathered back at the stage. Latios was smiling cheerfully, or would have, if Latios smelled a little bit better. The stench from the morning had somehow gotten worse. Campers were pinching their noses.

"Okay, what smells worse than a Gloom after getting sprayed by a Skuntank and Weezing and hugging a Garbodor and Muk at the same time in a sewer?" Persian asked, holding her nose.

Latias pointed to Latios, "Don't ask me how it got worse." She said.

Latios huffed, "I told you I put on cologne!"

"What kind?" Serperior asked, leaning backwards a bit.

"Eau de Bayleaf, says it's spicy scent and with this stench, I had to use the whole thing. I've got the bottle right here." Latios pulled out a small bottle and tossed it. Lucario caught it. He opened it and sniffed instantly gagging at the smell. He quickly passed it to Roserade.

"Here, you probably know aromas better than I do." He said as he held the bottle out towards her.

Roserade nodded and gingerly took the bottle. She sniffed the opening and gagged as well.

"This isn't Eau de Bayleaf." She said as she covered her nose. "It's Scent of Trubbish. Someone must have swapped the labels."

Latios was enraged "What? Who could have-" he stopped for a moment as something clicked in his brain.

**000**

**Latios: ROTOM YOU LITTLE BASTARD! I'M GONNA- *camera quickly cuts to static as Latios begins to curse and make rude gestures***

**000**

"Latios's stench aside," Latias continued, "let me introduce our musical guest for the evening, Melotta!" Latios's eyes widened at the name and quickly ducked underneath the judges table. "Just kidding! We brought in Kricketune for your background music." As Latias spoke, a large red and black bug walked out on stage and gave a polite bow. "Give him your slip of paper with your song is and he'll somehow provide the background music. All you have to then is take the mic and sing, got it?" Most people just grunted. "Okay then, first up is…Blitzle!"

As Blitzle went up to the stage, Latios came out from under the judges table. "You're a bitch you know that?"

Latias snickered, "I try."

Blitzle turned to the judges, "I got 'Party Rock Anthem' by LMFAO." The bug type nodded as Latias smiled, it was one of her favorites.

Blitzle took a deep breath as music filled the air as Kricketune began playing.

_"PARTY ROCK_  
><em> YEA<em>  
><em> Wooo!<em>  
><em> LET'S GO!<em>  
><em> Party rock is in the house tonight<em>  
><em> Everybody just have a good time<em>  
><em> And we gonna make you lose your mind<em>  
><em> Everybody just have a good time"<em>

__Party rock is in the house tonight_  
><em> Everybody just have a good time<em>  
><em> And we gonna make you lose your mind<em>  
><em> Everybody just have a good time"<em>_

"_In the club party rock, look up on your girl  
>She on my jock non stop when we in the spot<br>Booty move away like she on the block  
>What the track I gots to know<br>Top jeans tattoo cause I'm rock and roll  
>Half black half white domino<br>Gain the money out the door"_

Blitzle was doing pretty well and seemed to be having fun. Latios and Latias were giving approving nods. Latias motioned for Kricketune to stop.

"I don't need to finish the song?" Blitzle asked.

Latias was nodding, "Yeah, or else it would take too long. Anyways, not bad Blitzle, you sang pretty well."

"I'll admit, pretty good performance. It's going to be hard to beat." Latios said.

"Alright Blitzle, go sit down." Latias said. "Next up is, Spinarak!"

She slowly crawled onstage and gave Kricketune her song. He began to play as Spinarak sang.

"_When I'm falling down  
>Will you pick me up again?<br>When I'm too far gone  
>Dead in the eyes of my friends<br>Will you take me out of here when I'm staring down the barrel  
>When I'm blinded by the lights, when I cannot see your face?"<em>

_"Take me out of here  
>Take me out of here<br>Take me out of here  
>Take me out of here"<br>_

Latios recognized the song, "'Watercolour' by Pendulum." He said. This was a song he liked. Unfortunately, Spinarak's singing wasn't as good as Blitzle's.

"_All I believe, and all I've known  
>Are being taken from me, can't get home<br>Yeah, do your worst, when worlds collide  
>Let their fear collapse, bring no surprise<br>Take me out of here"_

Latias motioned her hand to stop Kricketune.

"You did alright, not too good though."

"You sucked horribly." Latios commented. "Now get off for the next act."

**000**

**Spinarak: Why'd he have to be so mean about it?**

**000**

"Next act is Aron! Please take the stage."

"What's your song?" Latios asked as Aron took the stage.

"You'll see." He said as gave Kricketune his paper. Music began to play and Latios started to grin. He knew this song, but Latias wouldn't be too happy.

"_Nom nom nom nom nom nom nom_

_Nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom_

_Nom nom nom nom nom nom nom_

_Nom nom nom nom nom nom nom"_

Latias slammed her head onto the table while Latios started cracking up, as did most of the campers.

"_Nom nom nom nom nom nom nom_

_Nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom_

_Nom nom nom nom nom nom nom_

_Nom nom nom nom nom nom nom"_

Latias stopped the music, Latios kept laughing.

"So how'd I do?" Aron asked.

"Despite the fact that I hate the 'Nom Nom Song' and Parry Gripp in general, you did alright." Latias said, her face still on the table.

Latios calmed down "Hoo…that was perfect man. That song was meant for you."

Aron smiled as he bounced off the stage

"Bisharp! Your turn!" Latias called.

Bisharp took the stage, "My song is 'This is War' by 30 Second to Mars."

He grabbed the mic and soon started to sing.

"_A warning to the people,  
>The good and the evil,<br>This is war.  
>To the soldier, the civilian,<br>The martyr, the victim,  
>This is war."<em>

Latios was rocking out, Latias was just sitting there listening.

_"It's the moment of truth, and the moment to lie,_  
><em> The moment to live and the moment to die,<em>  
><em> The moment to fight, the moment to fight<em>  
><em> To fight, to fight, to fight!"<em>

_"To the right, To the left_  
><em> We will fight to the death!<em>  
><em> To the edge of the earth<em>  
><em> It's a brave new world<em>  
><em> From the last to the first<em>"

Latias motioned for the music to stop. "Very nice Bisharp, I am pleasantly surprised. Latios?"

Latios was nodding his head. "Perfect, I love the song and you sang it almost perfectly. Great job. Take your seat."

Everyone was cheering as Bisharp sat down while Chinchou was called up. She seemed really nervous.

"Well Chinchou, seeing as how you can't sing, you're disqualified. Sorry about that, just not your challenge. Just hand us your paper and we can see what song it is." Chinchou walked off the stage and handed Latias her song. She looked at it for a second as her eyes widened.

"Oh wow, it's a really good thing we didn't have her sing." Latias remarked, a slight blush forming on her face.

"Why? What song did she get?" Latios asked.

"You know, the song with Akon, and The Lonely Island."

Latios's eyes widened as he coughed, "Oh yeah, that one. We could have gotten sued right there."

"Persian, you're next!" Latias called out.

The cat slowly took the stage. "Must I sing? I really don't want to." She asked.

"Tough luck. What is your song?" Latias asked.

"'S&M' by Rihanna." Persian answered. Latias, Latios and Kricketune began laughing.

"Yeah…Kricketune… skip the intro…this is going to be funny." Latias said as she laughed.

Kricketune smiled and began to play as Persian fumbled for the mic.

"_Feels so good being bad  
>There's no way I'm turning back<br>Now the pain is my pleasure  
>Cause nothing could measure"<em>

_"Love is great, love is fine  
>Out the box, out of line<br>The affliction of the feeling  
>Leaves me wanting more"<em>

Everyone had already started laughing; Persian's awkwardness while singing didn't help either. Latias stopped the music as she continued to giggle.

"Well, pretty bad I must say, and we didn't even get to the embarrassing part yet."

"What she said." Latios said.

Persian slowly walked off stage as everyone continued to giggle, except Spiritomb, he was smiling.

**000**

**Spiritomb: And that my friends, has sealed the deal, the deal that will send her home tonight. *pauses for a moment* I think I've been with Cloyster too often; his weird analogies are starting to rub off.**

**000**

"Joltik, you're next!" Latias shouted.

The little bug climbed onto the stage. "Umm, I got 'Animal I've Become' by Three Days Grace." Latios and Kricketune burst out laughing.

"What's so funny? Latias asked.

"It's ironic, you'll see why."

Kricketune began playing a heavy guitar tune somehow and Joltik started to sing.

_"I can't escape this hell  
>So many times I've tried<br>But I'm still caged inside  
>Somebody get me through this nightmare<br>I can't control myself"  
><em>

_"So what if you can see the darkest side of me?  
>No one will ever change this animal I have become<br>Help me believe it's not the real me  
>Somebody help me tame this animal<br>(This animal, this animal)"_

Latias understood, having a squeaky voice like Joltik's sing a heavy rock tune was hilarious. She started laughing as well.

_"I can't escape myself  
>(I can't escape myself)<br>So many times I've lied  
>(So many timesIi've lied)<br>But there's still rage inside  
>Somebody get me through this nightmare<br>I can't control myself"  
><em>

_"So what if you can see the darkest side of me?  
>No one will ever change this animal I have become<br>Help me believe it's not the real me  
>Somebody help me tame this animal I have become<br>Help me believe it's not the real me  
>Somebody help me tame this animal"<em>

Laughing, Latias stopped Kricketune.

"Well, that was…interesting, you're voice was just way too high for this song."

"Yeah, your voice needs to deeper." Latios concurred. "Next is Sawk!"

Sawk walked up and he wasn't very happy.

"So what song did the blue man crew reject get?" Latias said.

"Add insult to injury why don't you." Sawk returned.

"Why? What did you get?" Latios asked.

"Just listen and save me the embarrassment."

Kricketune played the music as Sawk grudgingly sang.

"_Ohh wooaah_

_Ohh wooaah_

_Ohh wooaah"_

It was Latios's turn to slam his head onto the table. Latias, however, squealed in delight.

"_You know you love me, I know you care  
>Just shout whenever, and I'll be there<br>You want my love, you want my heart  
>And we will never ever ever be apart"<br>_

_"Are we an item? Girl, quit playing  
>We're just friends, what are you saying?<br>Say there's another and look right in my eyes  
>My first love broke my heart for the first time<br>And I was like..."  
><em>

_"Baby, baby, baby oooh  
>Like baby, baby, baby nooo<br>Like baby, baby, baby oooh  
>I thought you'd always be mine (mine)"<em>

Latias stopped the music as Latios's groaning was getting louder and louder.

"Why did it have to go for so long…?" Latios whined as he lifted his head off the table and looked at his sister.

"Because I love Justin Beiber and 'Baby' and I love making you feel miserable." Latias answered with a smile. Latios just glared.

**000**

**Latios: I said it once I'll say it again, my sister is a bitch.**

**000**

"Anyway Sawk." Latias continued. "You did okay, but Bisharp still has the lead. Latios, your thoughts?"

"I'm not going to answer."

"Very well then, Zangoose!"

Zangoose took the stage, she wore a scowl.

"If you laugh while I sing, you are all dead." She said threateningly.

"Why? What did you get?" Latias asked.

"'Friday' by Rebecca Black." Zangoose growled. Latias used both her hands to cover her mouth, while Latios slammed his head back onto the table, half crying, half laughing.

"Just start." Latias said, tears now forming in her eyes.

Zangoose glared and began singing.

"_Seven a.m., waking up in the morning  
>Gotta be fresh, gotta go downstairs<br>Gotta have my bowl, gotta have cereal  
>Seein' everything, the time is goin'<br>Tickin' on and on, everybody's rushin'  
>Gotta get down to the bus stop<br>Gotta catch my bus, I see my friends (My friends)"  
><em>

_"Kickin' in the front seat  
>Sittin' in the back seat<br>Gotta make my mind up  
>Which seat can I take?"<br>_

_"It's Friday, Friday  
>Gotta get down on Friday<br>Everybody's lookin' forward to the weekend, weekend  
>Friday, Friday<br>Gettin' down on Friday  
>Everybody's lookin' forward to the weekend."<em>

Latias stopped the music as she burst out laughing.

"That…was…horrible…but hilarious! Latios?" The co-host just groaned in response. "Alright then, Kingdra, you're up!"

Kingdra slowly went up onstage. "My song is 'If Today was Your Last Day' by Nickelback."

Latias smiled, this should be interesting.

Kricketune began and Kingdra began to sing

"_My best friend gave me the best advice  
>He said each day's a gift and not a given right<br>Leave no stone unturned, leave your fears behind  
>And try to take the path less traveled by<br>That first step you take is the longest stride"  
><em>

_"If today was your last day  
>And tomorrow was too late<br>Could you say goodbye to yesterday?  
>Would you live each moment like your last?<br>Leave old pictures in the past  
>Donate every dime you have?<br>If today was your last day"  
><em>

_"Against the grain should be a way of life  
>What's worth the prize is always worth the fight<br>Every second counts 'cause there's no second try  
>So live like you'll never live it twice<br>Don't take the free ride in your own life"_

Latias stopped the music, "Well Kingdra, we don't need to hear any more because that was…excellent!"

Latios nodded in agreement, "Absolutely brilliant."

Kingdra gave a slight bow to the judges before leaving the stage greeted by cheers from his teammates.

**000**

**Sawk: Okay, the other team is murdering us in this challenge. I'm worried too cause if we lose, I might be on the chopping block tonight!**

**000**

Rotom was then called up, as he went to the stage, Latios kept glaring at him. Rotom handed his paper to Kricketune before facing the judges.

"My song is 'The Reason' by Hoobstank." He said and looked at Lampent. He then began singing.

"_I'm not a perfect person  
>There's many things I wish I didn't do<br>But I continue learning  
>I never meant to do those things to you<br>And so I have to say before I go  
>That I just want you to know."<br>_

_"I've found a reason for me  
>To change who I used to be<br>A reason to start over new  
>and the reason is you"<br>_

_"I'm sorry that I hurt you  
>It's something I must live with everyday<br>And all the pain I put you through  
>I wish that I could take it all away<br>And be the one who catches all your tears  
>Thats why I need you to-"<em>

"Boooooooooooo!" Latias interrupted. "You suck! Boooooooooo!

"Why do you hate me I've never done anything to you."

"Oh I have plenty of reason to hate you. You're annoying, pesky, ugly, a nuisance-"

"You ain't got no pancake mix!" Cloyster suddenly shouted from the audience. Everyone stared at him. His eye just twitched.

"Yeah, what he said." Rotom remarked.

Latios just glared at Rotom, who floated back to his seat.

"Next is Cloyster." The shell bounced up to the stage cackling as both judges exchanged uneasy glances.

"He he, prepare for my performance that shall be etched into the back of your memories forever!" He shouted as he stood next to the mic.

Latias sighed, "What was your song?" she said as she sipped her drink.

"'Winter Wrap-up' begin the music!"

Latias choked, "Wait, what?" It was too late, Cloyster had already started.

"_Three months of winter coolness, and awesome holidays~  
>We've kept our hoovesies warm at home, time off from work to play~<br>But the food we've stored is running out, and we can't grow in this cold  
>And even though I love my boots, this fashion's getting old~"<br>_

_"The time has come to welcome Spring,  
>And all things warm and green.<br>But it's also time to say goodbye,  
>It's Winter we must clean.<br>How can I help, I'm new you see,  
>What does every pony do?<br>How do I fit in without magic?  
>I haven't got a clue!"<br>_

_"Winter Wrap-Up, Winter Wrap-Up!  
>Let's finish our holiday cheer~<br>Winter Wrap-Up, Winter Wrap-Up!  
>'Cause tomorrow Spring is here~<br>'Cause tomorrow Spring is here!"_

"HOLD IT! HOLD IT! HOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLDDDDDD IT!" Latias screamed. Everyone else was laughing their heads off.

"Why was that song a choice? Cause I specifically remember that that song was not to be put in there ever. Who did it?" Latias screamed.

"I say it was the interns." Latios said, a bored expression on his face.

"I'm going to kill them!" She said, flying off away from the challenge site. Latios began to smile and soon, laugh.

**000**

**Latios: *raises hand* Guilty. I added it as a joke, didn't think someone would get it.**

**000**

"Well since Latias is on a killing spree, I'm going to call out who's next. Lampent. You get to go."

Lampent floated on stage.

"I got 'Thnks Fr th Mmrs' by Fall Out Boy." She said

"Are you sure that's spelled correctly?" Latios asked.

"Did you just break the fourth wall?"

"…maybe. Just sing."

Lampent began to sing, her voice wasn't too bad, even if she was singing a song by male artists.

"_I'm gonna make you bend and break  
>(It sent you to me without wings)<br>Say a prayer but let the good times roll  
>In case God doesn't show<br>(Let the good times roll, let the good times roll)  
>And I want these words to make things right<br>But it's the wrongs that make the words come to life  
>"Who does he think he is?"<br>If that's the worst you got  
>Better put your fingers back to the keys"<br>_

_"One night and one more time  
>Thanks for the memories<br>even though they weren't so great  
>He tastes like you only sweeter<br>One night, yeah, and one more time  
>Thanks for the memories, thanks for the memories<br>He, he tastes like you only sweeter"_

Latios stopped the music. "Pretty good, but you didn't beat your teammates."

Lampent nodded and left the stage as Latios called for Klink.

**000**

**Rotom: She was glaring at me during the whole song, I've got a bad feeling about this…**

**000**

**Lampent: Rotom thinks he can win me over with a song? As if. I'm not that weak.**

**000**

Klink gave Kricketune his slip of paper and faced Latios "We got 'Clocks' by Coldplay."

"Alrighty then, begin."

"_Lights go out and I can't be saved  
>Tides that I tried to swim against<br>You've put me down upon my knees  
>Oh I beg, I beg and plead (singing)<br>Come out of things unsaid, shoot an apple of my head (and a)  
>Trouble that can't be named, tigers waiting to be tamed (singing)<br>You are, you are"  
><em>

_"Confusion never stops, closing walls and ticking clocks (gonna)  
>Come back and take you home, I could not stop, that you now know (singing)<br>Come out upon my seas, curse missed opportunities (am I)  
>A part of the cure, or am I part of the disease (singing)"<em>

Latios motioned for the music to stop.

"Pretty good I have to say, you guys did nicely." Klink nodded and floated off stage. "Magneton, come up."

Magneton did as told and handed Kricketune his paper.

"BZZT. I AM SINGING 'Forever' BY CHRIS BROWN. BZZT."

Latios signaled for Kricketune to start. Voices started coming out from Magneton's body.

"Hold it for a second. Magneton, are you even singing?" Latios asked.

"BZZT. iSongs ACTIVATED. CANNOT USE SPEECH SYSTEM WHILE iSongs IS ACTIVATED. ANSWER IS NO. BZZT."

"Well I'm sorry but unfortunately you're disqualified, go back and sit down. Altaria!"

Altaria flew onto the stage. "My song is 'Firework' by Katy Perry."

Latios frowned, Latias would like this song better. He shrugged it off and signaled for Kricketune to start. Altaria inhaled and began singing.

"_Do you ever feel like a plastic bag,  
>drifting through the wind<br>wanting to start again?  
>Do you ever feel, feel so paper thin<br>like a house of cards,  
>one blow from caving in?"<em>

Latios was pleasantly surprised, Altaria was a very good singer and had a great voice.

_"Do you ever feel already buried deep?  
>6 feet under screams but no one seems to hear a thing<br>Do you know that there's still a chance for you  
>'Cause there's a spark in you"<br>_

_"You just gotta ignite, the light, and let it shine  
>Just own the night like the 4th of July"<br>_

_"'Cause baby you're a firework  
>Come on, show 'em what you're worth<br>Make 'em go "Oh, oh, oh"  
>As you shoot across the sky-y-y"<br>_

_"Baby, you're a firework  
>Come on, let your colors burst<br>Make 'em go "Oh, oh, oh"  
>You're gonna leave 'em all in awe, awe, awe"<em>

Latios signaled for a stop. Many people were cheering.

"Very nice I must say, you're probably next to Kingdra and Bisharp right now. Please take your seat. Next contestant is Absol! Come on up!"

He walked up slowly and gave Kricketune his paper. "'In the End' by Linkin Park." Latios nodded and told Kricketune to begin.

"_(It starts with one)  
>One thing I don't know why<br>It doesn't even matter how hard you try  
>Keep that in mind, I designed this rhyme<br>To explain in due time  
>All I know<br>time is a valuable thing  
>Watch it fly by as the pendulum swings<br>Watch it count down to the end of the day  
>The clock ticks life away<br>It's so unreal  
>Didn't look out below<br>Watch the time go right out the window  
>Trying to hold on but didn't even know<br>Wasted it all just to  
>Watch you go"<br>_

_"I kept everything inside and even though I tried, it all fell apart  
>What it meant to me will eventually be a memory of a time when I tried so hard<br>And got so far  
>But in the end<br>It doesn't even matter"  
><em>

_"I had to fall  
>To lose it all<br>But in the end  
>It doesn't even matter"<em>

Latios motioned for the music to stop. "Well, it could have been a little bit faster but I'll let it slide. Stunfsik, you're on!"

As Absol went down to curl back up in the stands, the flounder grudgingly went up "Thankfully your sister isn't here to see this."

"Why? What'd you get?"

"'Gimme More' by Britney Spears."

Latios chuckled as did most of the audience. "Fair enough. Go ahead."

Stunfisk grabbed the mic and cursed as Kricketune began playing.

"_Everytime they turn the lights down  
>Just wanna go that extra mile for you<br>You got my display of affection  
>Feels like no one else in the room (but you)"<em>

Everyone was snickering as Stunfisk sang. He wasn't particularly happy about it.

_"We can get down like there's no one around  
>We keep on rocking, we keep on rockin'<br>Cameras are flashing while we're dirty dancing  
>They keep watching, keep watchin'<br>Feels like the the crowd was saying"  
><em>

_"Gimme Gimme more  
>Gimme more<br>Gimme gimme more"_

"_Gimme Gimme more  
>Gimme more<br>Gimme gimme more"_

Latios stopped as Kricketune and everyone else was laughing.

"Well, that was certainly humorous, alright, you can go sit down."

As Stunfisk sat down, Latias came floating back.

"Where've you been?" Latios asked.

"Hunting interns, missed a couple of them, I bet they're hiding. Who did I miss?"

"Lampent, Klink, Altaria, Absol, and your nemesis, Stunfisk.

"What? And I purposely rigged his song just to see him squirm. Dammit."

"Well, Shuckle is up next, I heard she got 'Everytime we Touch' by Cascada. Let's see how she does."

Shuckle had climbed up onto the stage and told Kricketune her song. She inhaled deeply.

"_I still hear your voice, when you sleep next to me.  
>I still feel your touch in my dreams.<br>Forgive me my weakness, but I don't know why  
>Without you it's hard to survive."<br>_

_"'Cause everytime we touch, I get this feeling.  
>And everytime we kiss I swear I could fly.<br>Can't you feel my heart beat fast, I want this to last.  
>Need you by my side.<br>'Cause everytime we touch, I feel the static.  
>And everytime we kiss, I reach for the sky.<br>Can't you hear my heart beat so...  
>I can't let you go.<br>Want you in my life."_

Latias stopped Kircketune.

"That was alright Shuckle." Latias said. "Could have been better though."

"Yeah, it sucked." Latios remarked. Shuckle looked perplexed at the sudden change in Latios's attitude.

**000**

**Shuckle: Is it just me or is Latios different when Latias is around?**

**000**

Shuckle slowly crawled off the stage as Lucario was told to go up.

"So, what will you be singing?" Latias asked.

"'Fireflies' by Owl City." He answered. Latios seemed amused. Latias signaled for Kricketune to begin.

"_You would not believe your eyes  
>If ten million fireflies<br>Lit up the world as I fell asleep  
>Cause they'd fill the open air<br>And leave tear drops everywhere  
>You'd think me rude but I would just stand and<br>Stare"  
><em>

_"I'd like to make myself believe  
>That planet Earth turns, slowly<br>It's hard to say that I'd rather stay awake when I'm asleep  
>Cause everything is never as it seems"<br>_

_"Cause I'd get a thousand hugs  
>From ten thousand lightning bugs<br>As they tried to teach me how to dance  
>A foxtrot above my head<br>A sock hop beneath my bed  
>The disco ball is just hanging by a thread<br>(Thread, thread...)"_

Latias stopped Kricketune, "I would say average, your voice is too deep."

Latios nodded in agreement, "Same here."

"Okay, who's next…ah, Spiritomb, come up."

The vortex bounced up onto the stage. "I'm not sure I should sing this, I feel the younger viewers won't sleep well after I sing this."

"Can't be worse than what Chinchou got. What is it?" Latias asked.

"'Smooth Criminal' by Michael Jackson. "

"Ah, well you gotta do it, sorry." Latias motioned for the music to begin and Spiritomb began to sing.

"_As he came into the window  
>It was the sound of a crescendo<br>He came into her apartment  
>He left the bloodstains on the carpet<br>She ran underneath the table  
>He could see she was unable<br>So she ran into the bedroom  
>She was struck down, it was her doom"<em>

Latias was getting the chills, but smiled when she saw Spiritomb floating backwards across the stage.

"_Annie are you OK  
>So, Annie are you OK<br>Are you OK Annie  
>Annie are you OK<br>So, Annie are you OK  
>Are you OK Annie<br>Annie are you OK  
>So, Annie are you OK<br>Are you OK Annie  
>You've been hit by<br>You've been hit by  
>A smooth criminal"<em>

Latias stopped the music. "Yeah, that was kinda creepy, but done very well."

"Eh, I thought it was fine, nice job with the moonfloat by the way."Latios remarked

Spiritomb bowed as he returned to his seat.

**000**

**Bisharp: He's smooth alright, but I'm onto him.**

**000**

"Roserade, your turn!" Latias called.

Roserade took the stage and smiled. "'Don't stop believing' by Journey. A personal favorite."

Latios nodded, "As is mine." Latias looked at him. "What? We sang it at graduation remember?"

"Yeah I was sick that day." Latios said with a glare.

"Oh. Right. Just start Roserade." Roserade nodded and took a deep breath as music began to play.

"_Just a small town girl  
>Livin' in a lonely world<br>She took the midnight train  
>Goin' anywhere<br>Just a city boy  
>Born and raised in South Detroit<br>He took the midnight train  
>Goin' anywhere"<br>_

_"A singer in a smokey room  
>A smell of wine and cheap perfume<br>For a smile they can share the night  
>It goes on and on and on and on"<br>"Strangers waiting  
>Up and down the boulevard<br>Their shadows searching  
>In the night<br>Streetlights, people  
>Livin' just to find emotion<br>Hidin', somewhere in the night"_

By this time most of the crowd had joined in, including Latios. Unfortunately Latias had to spoil their fun by stopping the music.

"Well Roserade, seeing how everyone else was singing along, we could almost barely hear you. But you still did well."

"Great job, you did the song justice." Latios said, giving a thumbs-up. Roserade waved as she stepped off the stage.

"Up next is Gardevoir!" Latias called.

Gardevoir gracefully walked on stage and smiled. "My song is 'Love Song' by Sarah Bareilles."

Latias nodded, "Alright, let's hear it." Gardevoir nodded as the music played and began singing.

"_Head under water  
>And they tell me to breathe easy for a while<br>The breathing gets harder, even I know that  
>Made room for me but it's too soon to see<br>If I'm happy in your hands"  
><em>

_"I'm unusually hard to hold on to  
>Blank stares at blank pages<br>No easy way to say this  
>You mean well, but you make this hard on me<br>I'm not gonna write you a love song  
>'cause you asked for it<br>'cause you need one, you see"  
><em>

_"I'm not gonna write you a love song  
>'cause you tell me it's<br>Make or break in this  
>If you're on your way<br>I'm not gonna write you to stay  
>If all you have is leaving I'm gonna need a better<br>Reason to write you a love song today"_

The crowd was on fire, not literally, but was cheering enthusiastically. Latias reluctantly stopped her. The crowd still continued to cheer.

"Nicely done, you've just taken the top spot!" Latias exclaimed.

"Very, very, nice!" Latios shouted. "I had high hopes for you but you took a step farther, great job!"

Latias looked at a list "Can anyone top that? Let's see here, ah, Feebas!"

The fish hopped on stage and grabbed the mic.

"My song is 'Edge of Glory' by Lady Gaga." She said smiling.

"Okay then, you may begin." Latias signaled for Kricketune to begin.

"_There ain't no reason you and me should be alone  
>Tonight, yeah, baby! (Tonight, yeah, baby!)<br>And I got a reason that you're who should take me home tonight (Tonight)  
>I need a man that thinks it's right when it's so wrong<br>Tonight, yeah, baby! (Tonight, yeah, baby!)  
>Right on the limits where we know we both belong tonight"<em>

Everyone's jaw dropped. They had not expected this. Feebas had a great voice. It was on par with Gardevoir's!

_"It's hard to feel the rush, to brush the dangerous  
>I'm gonna run right to, to the edge with you<br>Where we can both fall far in love."  
><em>

_"I'm on the edge of glory, and I'm hanging on a moment of truth  
>Out on the edge of glory, and I'm hanging on a moment with you<br>I'm on the edge, the edge, the edge, the edge, the edge, the edge, the edge,  
>I'm on the edge of glory, and I'm hanging on a moment with you<br>I'm on the edge with you."_

Latias stopped Kricketune, eyes wide with shock. Everybody was clapping and cheering.

"Well that was unexpected…and brilliant!"She shouted as she gave a standing ovation.

Latios just stared, "I am at a loss for words. This was an exceptional performance."

After the crowd had died down, Latias sat down. "Well, **that**, was quite a surprise. Next up is Espeon."

Espeon took the stage and grabbed the mic with her psychic powers. "My song is 'Keep Holding On' by Avril Lavigne." Kricketune then began the music as Espeon started to sing.

"_You're not alone  
>Together we stand<br>I'll be by your side, you know I'll take your hand  
>When it gets cold<br>And it feels like the end  
>There's no place to go<br>You know I won't give in  
>No I won't give in"<em>

Absol, who had been napping earlier, perked up. He had heard this somewhere. It seemed so familiar. He continued to listen intently, hoping to remember where he had first heard this.

_"Keep holding on  
>'Cause you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through<br>Just stay strong  
>'Cause you know I'm here for you, I'm here for you<br>There's nothing you could say  
>Nothing you could do<br>There's no other way when it comes to the truth  
>So keep holding on<br>'Cause you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through_

Absol was thinking. Where had he heard that song, and why was it so important to him? He continued to search the confines of his memory. His eyes widened as he remembered.

**000**

It was right after the disaster, while he was mourning everyone's death. As he was crying, he heard this tune, coming from somewhere. He had looked around to find the source. He saw a human walking nearby. The sound of the music was coming from him. Absol was wary, humans had just robbed him of everything and he didn't know if he could trust this one. The human approached, Absol took a defensive stance as he got a better look of the approaching figure. He was wearing a gray cap, but it didn't cover a lot of his slightly messy hair which was long and green and tied into a ponytail. He had a calm demeanor, complemented by his white jacket and black shirt.

"Don't be alarmed." He said in a calm voice. "I was flying by when I saw an explosion. Don't move. Let me hear your voice." He stopped in front of Absol and crouched down, closing his gray eyes. He stayed like that for a minute and stood up. "I see, so that is what happened. That is very unfortunate. You have my sympathies."

Absol heard the music again and looked at the human.

"Ah, I see you heard that." He said. He pulled a small device. "This is one of my favorite songs. It reminds me that whatever happens, I need to move on in life and continue to fulfill my dream, because those who care for you are right by your side, in your heart." Absol stared at this human. He was younger than the ones that had chased him earlier, yet he was much more sophisticated and had a sincere kindness.

The young man smiled, "You must be interested in my dream aren't you? I'll tell you what it is then: I dream of a world where both humans and Pokemon live separately. No longer will this kind of tragedy happen, the world will be in balance."

The human looked around, "I must get going, but would you like to listen to this song with me?" Absol nodded. The young man sat down and pressed a button on his device. Music filled the air as both human and Pokemon listened to the song peacefully. When the song had finished, the young man had stood up. "I must leave now, farewell my friend." He waved and walked away. A large gust swept the area, causing Absol to close his eyes. When he opened them, the human was gone.

**000**

Listening to the song again, he remembered the green-haired human's words. Whatever happens, move on in life. Those who care for you are right by your side, in your heart. Absol started to cry silently, he realized it now, he couldn't mope about the deaths forever, he needed to move on and look towards the future.

He looked up to see Serperior leave the stage, apparently there was an issue regarding the song. It was in a foreign language and since Serperior didn't know what language it was, he couldn't sing it. So now there was only one act left that night, Zoroark's.

The black fox took the stage and quietly handed Kricketune his paper.

"'Anthem of the Angels" by Breaking Benjamin." He said quietly as Kircketune began to play. Zoroark's eyes were closed as he listened to the melody. Slowly, he opened his mouth and began to sing.

"_White walls surround us  
>No light will touch your face again<br>Rain taps the window  
>As we sleep among the dead."<br>_

_"Days go on forever  
>But I have not left your side<br>We can chase the dark together  
>If you go then so will I"<em>

No one made a sound, their eyes focused on Zoroark's performance. It was as if the world had gone deaf and only Zoroark's voice was the only one that could be heard

_"There is nothing left of you  
>I can see it in your eyes<br>Sing the anthem of the angels  
>And say the last goodbye"<br>_

_"Cold light above us  
>Hope fills the heart<br>And fades away  
>Skin white as winter<br>As the sky returns to grey"_

Everyone sat in their seats, mesmerized. He was a really good singer, but there was something else in there. It was as if he was singing from the depths of his heart, singing from his soul.

_"Days go on forever  
>But I have not left your side<br>We can chase the dark together  
>If you go then so will I"<br>_

_"There is nothing left of you  
>I can see it in your eyes<br>Sing the anthem of the angels  
>And say the last goodbye<br>I keep holding onto you  
>But I can't bring you back to life<br>Sing the anthem of the angels  
>Then say the last goodbye"<em>

Latias stopped the music. Silence. Then applause. Everyone was on their feet, cheering for Zoroark.

Latias looked at her brother, "Well, I think we know who won right Latios?" He nodded. "Okay the winners are Zoroark and the Legendary Lugias!" The team cheered and looked for their team member but he was gone. An awkward silence followed as tumbleweed rolled across the stage.

**000**

That night, the Ho-Ohs were once again at elimination. Latias floated in front of the 12 campers, soon to become 11.

"Okay Ho-Ohs, since it's your sixth time here. When will you catch up?"

"Quit talking and tell us who's going home!" Zangoose shouted.

"Why are all of you so impatient? Fine, when I call your name, come and get your poffin. Cloyster you got no votes so come up." The purple shell laughed as he bounced toward the host.

"Spiritomb." He smiled.

"Aron"

"Magneton"

"Serperior"

"Altaria"

"Feebas"

"Zangoose"

"Sawk"

"Absol"

Only Persian and Chinchou were left. Spiritomb was smiling. His victory would come at last.

"The last poffin of the night goes to…Persian."

Spiritomb's face fell. How? How did she avoid elimination?

"Well Chinchou, sorry about this but you'll be leaving today. Please pack your bags." Chinchou silently nodded and walked away.

**000**

**Chinchou: *Continues to flash her lights and make hand signals. She then waves and exits the confessional***

**000**

As Absol walked away from the campfire pit, he saw a familiar figure, no doubt to ask him who had gone home. He sighed and walked toward her.

"So, how did it go?" Espeon asked.

"Chinchou left, pretty surprising to most of us." Absol said as he walked past her.

When he was a good distance away, he stopped. "Oh and by the way, thank you."

Espeon whirled around but Absol was gone. She frowned and walked away

"What brought that about?" She muttered as she walked toward her cabin.

**000**

As Chinchou left, a couple members of the Ho-Ohs were standing on the docks.

"It's a shame how Chinchou had to leave. She was a good friend." Serperior said.

Altaria nodded. "Yeah, today just wasn't her day."

"Makes me wonder who voted for her." Feebas said thoughtfully.

"I mean we didn't vote for her, maybe everyone else did." Sawk added.

Spiritomb heard the last line. He turned to the four Pokemon who were on the dock. "Excuse me, but I'm just curious, you said you didn't vote for Chinchou. Who did you vote for?"

"We split our votes." Zangoose answered, approaching Spiritomb from behind. "Me, Serperior and Chinchou of us voted for Persian. Sawk, Altaria and Feebas voted for Cloyster. Why? Who did you vote for?"

"I personally voted for Aron." Spiritomb quickly lied. "He has been constantly nibbling at my rock these past couple days, even when I told him to stop. Now if you would pleases excuse me, I'm going to go to bed now." He said as he floated away.

As he floated he began thinking, something was definitely wrong. Three of those Pokemon had voted for Perisan. With his and Cloyster's vote, that would have made Persian's vote total five. That meant there were seven people that could have voted for Chinchou. But three of those seven didn't vote for Chinchou, making the total now four. Even if all of those votes were for Chinchou, she still wouldn't have gone home as Perisna had more votes than Chinchou. It then hit him. Latias said that Cloyster had received no votes, yet Zangoose had said that Sawk, Altaria and Feebas voted for could only mean one thing, someone had manipulated the votes of those three and changed them to Chinchou. But the question was who? This deeply unsettled Spiritomb. There was another force at work besides him. He had to tread carefully. One wrong move and his chances at winning would be shattered.

**000**

Meanwhile, Zoroark had removed himself from the main camp area. He was currently sitting on the edge of the cliff from the first challenge. He knew that Bisharp called a meeting, but he wanted to be away from everyone else. Zoroark stared at the sky looking at the stars. "Why did I have to get that song?" He said to himself. "Was it really worth it? I really wish it didn't relate to me so strongly."

He continued to stare at the sky. He soon felt tears streaming down his face. He wiped them off and saw is injury. He removed his arm from his face and looked over the horizon, a sad look on his face.

* * *

><p>First things first, I am not a brony. Just putting that out there right now.<p>

This chapter is now officially the longest chapter, though it would probably be much shorter if it there were no song lyrics, but it was necessary.

Chinchou, I had originally wanted to work with a mute character so I thought her up. Unfortunately I couldn't find much use for her so I had to eliminate her.

Was I too ambitious with the guest character? You tell me in your reviews.

Yes, someone is working against Spiritomb. Is it Bisharp or is it someone else Only future chapters will tell. All we know is, they're good at what they do.

With the minicontest, you still have some time to submit your guesses with Zoroark's fear. I'll give you a hint though, the song. Have fun guessing!

**Chinchou: *Holds up a paper that says "Review everyone!"***

* * *

><p>Next Time: The contestants better be hungry because it's all you can eat, literally! It's up to chance to decide what they'll consume, even if it kills them. While one camper crosses off people on their list another continues realizes their heart isn't in the game. But at the end of the night, a full-bellied loser leaves the game.<p> 


	10. Wheel! Of! Food?

**Happy Halloween everyone! Here's a treat, the tenth chapter!  
><strong>

**I don't know if I should continue doing summaries. I won't put up one for this chapter so all of you guys get to decide via a poll on my profile page.**

**Would have had this up sooner, but my internet at my house is out so I'm mooching off someone else's at the moment.  
><strong>

**Onto the chapter!**

* * *

><p>Spiritomb was thinking, he had been doing so since the last elimination. In front of him was a list of all of the contestants. Some names were crossed out or circled with a triangle or square. As he looked down he continued to think. Out of all the possible people on this island, who could be the one conspiring against him? The eliminated contestants were a no-go so their names had been crossed out. Other names crossed out included Cloyster, Sawk, Feebas and Altaria. Spiritomb knew Cloyster was loyal, so there was no way he could have switched the votes, even if he was crazy. The other three either didn't know their votes were changed or were manipulated into doing so. So they couldn't be the culprit.<p>

He had drawn a couple triangles around the members of the other team. He didn't know much about them but there was always the possibility that one of their members had made an alliance with his teammates. He had also drawn a couple squares around some of the names in his team. They were to remind him that it was likely that one of his teammates knew about his plan.

However, there was one name on the list he had circled in red ink. He would have to be careful around them, he had a hunch they could be the culprit but he wasn't sure. But if his hunch was right, he still had an ace up his sleeve, something he could hold over them. This was only a slight kink in his plans, he just needed to discard the useless cards and get some new ones. Yes…his hand was almost perfect, and soon, it would be unbeatable.

**000**

Meanwhile, all of the other 26 campers had gathered in the mess hall, waiting on breakfast. It's just that Latios wasn't in the kitchen. Spiritomb entered and saw the annoyed looks on everyone's face.

One Pokemon in particular was still in high spirits, Aron. The little guy was eating a bunch of the metal forks and knives that he had gotten from the kitchen, still humming the tune he had sung during the last challenge.

Spiritomb gave a curious glance at the steel-type before finding himself a seat.

15 minutes later, Latias opened the door and floated inside. Everyone glared at the two hosts, except for a humming Aron.

"Hello everyone, how are you all-" Latias was cut off as Zangoose slammed her fist onto the table.

"Cut the nice crap! Where's our food?" She shouted angrily, everyone else joining her.

Latios pulled out his megaphone and pressed a button, a screech filled the area.

"Much better." Latias said as everyone else covered their ears. "Don't worry everyone, food will be served, we've gotten you hungry for today's challenge."

"What, are you going to feed us trash or will you stuff us and force us to stay awake?" Stunfisk asked in a monotone voice.

"No, we didn't want to use those challenges yet so we decided on a different one. BRING IT IN LATIOS!"

"I'm working on it!" He shouted.

Latios rolled in an extremely large wheel into the room. Everyone moved away to make room for the co-host and the large object. Latios set down the wheel which made a large thump.

"Wait, isn't this a roulette wheel from the casino challenge? That Magmar destroyed?" Altaria asked.

"This was the only thing we could salvage, and its perfect for today's challenge anyway. It'll help decide what food you'll get." Latias answered. "Let me explain what you'll have to do. First take a look at the wheel, every pocket is one of five colors, red, blue, green, yellow or pink. There's also one of five words on each panel, 'appetizer', 'main course', 'side dish', 'dessert' or 'drink'."

Latias held up a small white ball, on it was Stunfisk's face. "Each one of you will receive a ball like this one with your face on it. Depending on where your ball lands, is what kind of food you get. For example, if legless here's ball landed on the green 'drink', he would get a bitter-flavored drink. The colors correspond with the five different flavors, pink is sweet, blue is dry, red is spicy, green is bitter, and yellow is sour. There are also five mystery pockets. If your ball lands in the pocket, you'll get a mystery dish. No one but Latios knows what it'll be. After everyone's ball lands in a pocket, Latios will make all the dishes which will be given to you to eat. If you finish your dish, you'll move on to the next round, if you don't, you're out. The portions get bigger and bigger after each round. Last camper standing wins invincibility for their team. Any questions?"

Roserade and Lucario raised their hands. The former was slightly surprised.

"Yes Roserade, we know you're vegan so yes, no meat, dairy, eggs, or animal byproducts for you. Lucario, we have the forms that do indicate you're a vegetarian so yes, no meat for you either."

"You're a vegetarian?" Roserade asked.

"I prefer not to eat any meat. One of the best ways to develop strength is by limiting protein intake and training." Lucario answered.

Roserade blinked in surprise, "You really are devoted to training, aren't you?" Lucario only nodded in response.

**000**

**Roserade: Almost every time I see Lucario, he's always doing some crazy training. He's meditated under a waterfall, stood on one leg on a tree, and kept his arms in the air while balancing a huge rock on each of them. Those are apparently his "less extreme" practices.**

**000**

"That goes for everyone else, if you have a medical condition that prevents you from eating a specific food item, we know about it so there's no point in asking. Anything else?"

Stunfisk raised his hand, "Yeah, are you sure you guys have all my stuff, I think you might have forgotten one of my allergies."

"What is it?" Latias said with a groan.

"Well, its red and white, bipolar, and wants to kill me but can't." He said laughing and bounced away as fast as he could, Latias hot on his tail.

**000**

**Rotom: Stunfisk's a good guy and all, but I think he should tone it down a bit, angering the host is NOT a good thing.**

**000**

Minutes later, Latias reentered the mess hall, holding a flailing Stunfisk. She tossed him into the air and landed on a table with a smack.

"If everyone's finished insulting me, we can begin the challenge. Everyone, go grab your balls and stand around the table. When I spin the wheel, drop them into the roulette wheel and take your seat. Once Latios finishes preparing the food, I'll bring it out and you'll begin. Ready? Set…go!"

The wheel began to spin and everyone dropped their ball. All of them rolled around and around on the wheel, hitting each other every now and then. Eventually the wheel stopped and all of the balls had landed. Latias wrote down a quick list and handed it to Latios. Latios scanned the sheet and closed the doors and windows leading into the kitchen. Sounds of frying, chopping, baking, rinsing, and a lot more were heard coming from the kitchen. Soon the sounds stopped and the kitchen door opened. Latios pushed out a long cart holding everyone's dish. One by one they were set down, everyone's eyes widened. The food looked fantastic, and they just wanted to dig in.

"Okay then, looks like all of you are ready, bon appetit." Latias said

Everyone began to eat, but due to the small portions, everyone finished, except for one Pokemon, Aron. The little guy was too full from eating all the utensils from before and couldn't finish the Rawst berry cookie in front of him.

"Alright looks like we have our first casualty!" Latias shouted, "Time for the next course!"

All the campers gathered around the roulette wheel and dropped their ball into the wheel and waited for their food to be prepared. Nothing happened for a while, it wasn't until the fifth round that Joltik dropped out, Persian following right behind him the next round.

Soon the tenth round came up, no other Pokemon had dropped out. But, Latias noticed that everyone seemed to be slowing down and she smiled.

"Okay everybody, during the next round, you have to finish your plate in four minutes, plus, we're doubling your proportions and serving everyone the mystery dish just for this round! Have fun!" She said smiling.

No one had any time to protest as Latios wheeled out everyone's food and put it in front of them. Everyone raised an eyebrow, except Cloyster. It was a very large gray glob of very gelatinous jelly. Inside was a bunch of random unidentifiable food bits.

"Everyone, your time starts…now!"

Jelly flew everywhere as everyone frantically dug into the dish in front of them. Some contestants however, were eating slowly. Despite having two mouths between them, Klink was chewing slowly, while Shuckle and Feebas both showed sign of fullness and Stunfisk just lay on his side, complaining that he couldn't eat another bite. Zoroark wasn't that full, but he was still eating slowly, taking small bites at a time. He just seemed to be out of it. Bisharp noticed this. He started to slow down himself, thinking that he would be able to talk to Zoroark after this round, there were some questions that needed answering.

"Time's up!" Latias called out. "Whoever still has food left on their plate, you're out. Please stand to the side." As those who didn't finish got up, Bisharp walked next to Zoroark and tapped him on the shoulder. When Zoroark looked at him, Bisharp gestured towards the door and walked towards it, Zoroark understood and followed.

**000**

**Zoroark: I have no doubt Bisharp's going to ask me about what's going on with me. However, these are my problems, I don't want to get anyone else involved, it'll just create me more trouble. Plus, I don't want them to find about my secret…*holds his right arm***

**000**

Bisharp led Zoroark to a small clearing on the edge of the forest and turned to face him.

"Alright, I know you understand why I brought you here so I'll cut to the chase: what's going on?"

Zoroark sighed, "…nothing. Nothing's wrong."

Bisharp folded his arms, "Quit bluffing, your lies are as obvious as your black fur. I know something's up, you've missed the last two meetings. The first one I could understand, but not the second. You also disappeared right after the challenge and didn't come back to the cabin til late at night."

"How did you know?"

"I'm a light sleeper. But I digress, I want to know what's going on. Even though what you saw in your dream might have been traumatic, I'd think that you probably could get over it. Even if it was a memory it's all in the past, there's no reason to be afraid of what happened."

_If only he knew…_ Zoroark thought to himself.

"So, tell me." Bisharp said as he sat on a rock. "What's going on? I just want to see if I can help."

Zoroark sighed heavily, "Look, I appreciate the gesture of kindness you're offering, but I really can't say anything."

"Why's that?"

"It's something I have to deal with myself, it's very personal, and I doubt anyone can relate."

"But you know your depressed attitude isn't helping right? The win from the last challenge might have been a fluke and you could be in danger with the rest of the team. I don't want what happened to Absol to occur on our team"

Zoroark looked toward the sky, "I know, I've been losing focus for a while now. It's just that, I'm not really motivated anymore."

Bisharp scratched his head, "So, I see you've made your decision?"

Zoroark looked at Bisharp, "Yeah. I'm sorry but I'll be leaving the war council."

Bisharp closed his eyes and sighed, "That's fine, I wasn't expecting much anyway. Just make usre you don't tell anyone about the group okay?" Zoroark nodded. "Thanks, lets head on back then."

**000**

When the two got back to the mess hall they noticed that only twelve people were left in the challenge: Kingdra, Zangoose, Serperior, Sawk, Lucario, Blitzle, Cloyster, Absol, Rotom, Lampent, Gardevoir and Shuckle. Shuckle, however, was groaning. She chewed another mouthful of her Pecha Berry glazed 3-pound steak and rolled onto her side and fell off the table.

Sawk was also having a difficult time eating his mystery dish. He rubbed his stomach tried lifting another spoonful to his mouth. He groaned and dropped his spoon, falling face-first into the jelly.

Latias used her psychic powers to move the two to the side and looked at the remaining contestants.

"Alright, since there are only ten of you left, we'll serve your food one by one."

"Why?" Rotom asked with a slight groan.

"Cause we need to stretch this chapter out somehow."

"BZZT. QUESTION: WHY CAN YOU AND LATIOS BREAK THE FOURTH WALL AND WE CANNOT? BZZT." Magneton beeped.

"Because the creator allows me to."

Almost everyone rolled their eyes as Latias broke the fourth wall again.

"Enough talking! Onto the food!"

Kingdra went first, his ball landed on the bitter drink. After a few seconds, Latios placed a **very** large mug of a warm brown liquid.

"Kingdra, you get a Durin Berry Coffee."

Kingdra inhaled the warm coffee's fume and took a sip.

"Ah, black Durin Berry Coffee, I favorite of mine I would like to add."

"Isn't that extremely bitter?" Espeon asked.

"Yes, but I have a Calm nature and love bitter things. Spicy foods, not so much." Kingdra finished drinking his coffee with a satisfied smile and gently placed the mug on the table.

Serperior went next. His ball dropped into the spicy side dish.

"Heh, piece of cake, bring on the spice!" He shouted to Latios.

Latios glared, "It's your funeral." He began cooking and seconds later, had Serperior's dish ready, a Tamato Berry salad with a Razz Berry dressing.

Seperior ate the salad happily and easily finished. He wiped off his mouth.

"What was that? I had spicier food in my sle-yeeeee!"Serperior closed his mouth suddenly as his eyes widened. His face slowly became red and he began sweating.

"What's wrong?" Feebas asked.

She was answered with a large jet of flame coming from Serperior's mouth. After a couple second, he closed his mouth and quickly dashed into the kitchen, knocking Latias out of the way.

Latios glanced over nonchalantly and shrugged. "Hey, I warned him."

**000**

**Serperior: *Chugging a gallon of milk. He stops and takes a deep breath* What…the…hell…was in there? Ghost chilies? *Continues drinking milk***

**000**

**Latios: *Holding a small red pepper* The Bhut Jolokia chili pepper, spiciest chili in the world. Need I say more?**

**000**

"Well since Serperior is getting treated for possible heartburn, he's out! Blitzle, your turn!"

Blitzle received a sweet dessert, a large Nanab-and-Mago berry sundae. He devoured them instantly and licked his lips.

It was Zangoose's turn. Her ball landed on the bitter dessert and had to finish a quart of Aguav berry ice-cream. Zangoose however, hated bitter foods and finishing a quart of bitter ice cream was out of the question.

Lampent went next and had to eat ten Kelpsy berry-wrapped rice balls with pickled Cornn berries. She finished her seven rice balls and was on her eighth one. But, she started to feel nauseous as she bit into her eighth one. All of a sudden, she dropped her rice ball, quickly floated to the nearest trash can and threw up in it.

Latias grimaced, "Another one down, can someone bring her to Audino's tent?"

"I'll do it!" Rotom said. Lampent gave him a quick death glare before throwing up again.

Latias frowned, "Sorry Rotom, but you have to stay, you're still in the game. We need someone else to do it. Anyone else want to help out instead?" Both Spinarak and Joltik volunteered. "Alright, you two can go, be careful on your way there."

"Okay!" They both said in unison. They picked up Lampent and slowly crawled out of the mess hall.

"Alright, back to business everyone! Your turn Cloyster!"

Cloyster laughed as he got up and placed his ball in the roulette wheel. "Ha! I shall finish the food that I get as easily as finding a sad moment in a sea of memories!"

It became so quiet that you could hear a pen drop.

**000**

**Klink: Does that even make any sense…?**

**000**

**Sawk: Is it just me or is that guy getting crazier every day?**

**000**

**Kingdra: No one, not even me, can deduce what goes on inside that head.**

**000**

Cloyster got a large Hondew Berry shake which he finished quickly and easily. Some suspected he had brain freeze, but couldn't tell due to his already crazy expression.

Rotom went next. His ball landed on a spicy main dish. He visibly gulped, he was weak to spice and disliked spicy things in general. Latios placed a large bowl of curry in front of Rotom. The room instantly filled with the smell of the curry. It had a bright red color and bits of Tamato, Figy and Iapapa berry were seen in it.

"Well Rotom, you may begin." Latias cheerfully said

Rotom looked nervously at Latias, then at the bowl in front of him. He grabbed a spoonful of the curry. Trembling, he put the spoon in his mouth. His eyes widened as he instantly felt the effects of the spice.

"SPPPPIIIIITTTTHHHHHEEEEE!" He shouted at the top of his lungs as he began to breathe fire. He noticed a glass of milk someone had put on the table. It had a slight reddish tint but Rotom ignored it and drank most of the milk in the glass.

He stopped for a moment to catch his breath, but suddenly his eyes widened again and started screaming as he started to breathe fire once again. Everyone looked at each other, confused at what just happened.

**000**

**Roserade: *looking the glass of milk Rotom drank out of.* Did someone add Tabasco to this milk?**

**000**

As Rotom was carried to the Audino's tent by Bisharp, Gardevoir went to take her turn. She spun the wheel and got a dry appetizer, a large Chesto berry quiche. She finished but with some difficulty.

Absol went next and his ball landed on a spicy drink. He got bowl of Spelon berry soup, which he finished with ease without shooting flames.

Lucario was next to go and got a sour main dish, Nomel berry pasta. He finished it easily but he had puckered up a bit due to sourness of the Nomel berry.

Latias looked at the remaining six campers. "All right time to up the ante. You all have seven minutes to finish your next dish and you'll all be going at once!"

There were some surprised looks but there was little time to object as Latias pushed them to the roulette wheel to get started. Once the balls had landed in their pocket, the food items were wheeled out. Kingdra got mug of Wepear berry tea, Blitzle a Watmel berry pie, Cloyster got a mystery dish, Gardevoir had some Liechi berry soup, Absol had to eat deep-fried Salac berries, and Lucario ate some fried rice with Leppa berries.

"Begin!" Latias said as she blew a whistle.

**000**

Meanwhile, at Audino's tent, Rotom had been dropped off and was now laying down on one of the cots. He noticed Lampent lying down on a cot nearby. He wanted to call out to her but decided against it since he knew he would just be ignored. He noticed a pencil and paper nearby and grabbed them, quickly writing something down. He then folded the paper into an airplane and tossed it toward Lampent. It landed next to her and Rotom did a quick fist pump before laying back down. Lampent took the plane and opened it up, it read:

_Lampent, I really want to talk to you._

_Please, just hear me out._

_Meet me by the cabins later._

_-Rotom_

Lampent looked over at where Rotom was laying down. She then looked back at the paper and folded it up, holding it in her hand.

**000**

Back at the Mess Hall, only two Pokemon were still left in the challenge, Cloyster and Blitzle. Both of them seemed fine.

Latias looked at the two and frowned "I really didn't want it to come to this, but since there are only two of you left, we're going into…SUDDEN DEATH!" she shouted, causing some of the smaller Pokemon to jump.

"You two will begin given a dish I have cooked myself. Whoever finishes first wins for their team."

"That shouldn't be too hard." Blitzle remarked.

"Yeah… you'll be eating those words soon. Latios! Bring out the last course!"

Latios entered the room, his head covered by a gas mask. He brought in a large box, holding it up a good distance away with his psychic powers. He gingerly placed the box on the table and used his psychic powers to open up the box. Everyone instantly gagged at the stench in the air as the box opened. Latios grabbed two bowls from the kitchen as well as two serving spoons. He scooped up a glowing, green, jelly-like substance from the box and put it in the bowls. Everyone looked ether revolted, shocked, scared, or all four, with the exception of Cloyster, who still had his crazy smile.

**000**

**Gardevoir: THAT, is definitely not normal.**

**000**

**Persian: Ugh, that stench, that color, it's just so revolting. Just being near it cannot be good for me.**

**000**

**Magneton: BZZT. ITEM SCANNED. ITEM CANNOT BE IDENTIFIED. SEARCHING FOR SIMILAR OBJECTS. RESULTS: NO MATCHES. BZZT.**

**000**

"Eat all of the food and you win for your team. Are you ready?"

Blitzle was staring at the food. "Uhh…no?"

"BEGIN!" Latias shouted.

Blitzle gulped and looked at what was in front of him. The jelly was continuously inflating and deflating, parts of it even moved on its own. HE closed his eyes and opened his mouth, slowly inching towards the bowl. The stench filled his nose as he got ever more closer, dreading what the food would taste like. His teammates cheered him on as he got closer and closer to the bowl, a cold sweat running down his neck.

"WE HAVE A WINNER!" Latias suddenly shouted, causing Blitzle to open his eyes, the food staring him straight in the eye. A small bubble had formed and it suddenly popped.

"Gah!" he shouted as he fell backwards onto the floor.

"Cloyster has finished his bowl and won invincibility for his team!" Latias shouted, while patting Cloyster on the shell, who let out a loud belch.

"Hehehe! That was easier than solving a math problem for -10 year olds!" He cackled.

Latias turned toward the Lugias, "Sorry guys but you have lost once again. Cast your votes for who you want to eliminate, and then meet at the campfire tonight to see who's going home. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to tell everyone at Audino's tent the results." Latias teleported away as the Lugias left the hall, thinking about who they were going to eliminate.

**000**

**Bisharp: Tonight's elimination is going to be quite varied, which makes things a little easier Some of us have not done well in recent challenges so many of the votes will be different. If I and the council can put all our votes into one Pokemon, they're gone. Now the question is who to eliminate…**

**000**

Later, Rotom was floating around the side of the cabins. Latias had told everyone at the tent the results, so he and Lampent had to cast their votes. He had already cast his vote, now he was just waiting for Lampent to meet with him.

"Hey." Said a voice behind Rotom, causing him to jump. He turned around and saw Lampent floating behind him, arms slightly crossed.

"Hey." He said back, as he rubbed the back of his head awkwardly.

An awkward silence occurred as they looked at each other.

Lampent suddenly turned around and started floating away, "If that's it, then I guess I should leave then."

"Wait!" Rotom shouted, as he grabbed her arm. Lampent's eyes widened as Rotom grabbed onto her hand. She shook it away.

"Why do you keep coming to me? I thought I asked you to leave me alone." Lampent said, crossing her arms.

"That's because I want to tell you that I'm sorry for ratting you out to Latios, and I really wish you can forgive me." Rotom pleaded

"Hmph, well to be honest, I'm not mad about that."

"Then why are you so mad at me?"

"Because you lied about liking me so that I wouldn't be so mad about you ratting me out to Latios."

"I'm telling you, I was telling the truth when I said that! I wouldn't lie about that kind of thing!"

"Yeah right. Prove it."

"Fine then! I will!"

Rotom suddenly rushed at Lampent and kissed her. Lampent's eyes widened in shock at first, but then she relaxed, closing her eyes and letting her emotions speak.

They pulled apart, Rotom holding Lampent's arms. "Now do you believe me?" He asked.

Lampent nodded with a smile on her face, "Yeah, I believe you. By the way, I think you missed a spot when you were cleaning up that curry."

"Why do you say that?"

" My lips are burning, and I don't think it's from the kiss."

"Oh, sorry about that." Rotom said apologetically.

The two embraced, letting nothing disturb their moment of peace.

**000**

Bisharp had just arrived to the woods where he and the rest of the war council were set to meet. Everyone else had already arrived.

"Alright then, let's start this meeting." Bisharp said.

"Wait, where's Zoroark?" Gardevoir asked. "Shouldn't we wait for him?"

Bisharp let out a heavy sigh, "Unfortunately, Zoroark, won't be joining us for a while."

"Why's that?" Roserade asked.

"He's decided to leave due to personal reasons. Something from the fear challenge is still gnawing at him and he needs some time alone. I'm hoping he will rejoin us when he's finished this battle of his but I can't say for sure, we can only hope for a speedy recovery."

Gardevoir looked slightly crestfallen at the news; Lucario took notice to her aura.

"Anyways," Bisharp said. "We need to discuss about who we're going to vote for. I'm 95% sure that whoever we vote for will be eliminated. So here's who I think we should vote for…"

**000**

Spiritomb was sitting at his desk in the cabin. He was scribbling some notes down. He had his paper from that morning next to him. He had carefully documented that Pokemon's actions. He held up his list and looked at it again. Something seemed strange, it was bothering him immensely.

A light bulb flicked in his head as he realized what it was. He couldn't believe he hadn't noticed earlier, he just wanted to kick himself, if he had the limbs for it. He started to laugh silently, he had a plan, and once the bait was taken, that would end this trivial matter once and for all.

**000**

That night, all of the Lugias had gathered at the campfire pit, most of them still quite full, waiting to see who would be voted off. Latios and Latias were floating in the air, holding a poffin case.

"Welcome to your third elimination Lugias. That was quite a shock losing to Cloyster wouldn't you say?"

"How did he eat that anyway? I mean, it looked like it was alive!" Stunfisk asked.

"Hey, don't insult my cooking fish face." Latias said threateningly.

"Yeah, that's my job." Latios said. "But to answer your question, Cloyster's application did say something about having no sense of taste or smell."

The team groaned, no wonder they had lost.

"Back to what's at hand!" Latias shouted. "All but one of you will get a poffin tonight. Since I want to keep things short, I'll just say the bottom two. Klink and Spinarak, you two are at the bottom, everyone else, come and grab your poffin."

The thirteen safe Pokemon got their poffins and looked at the bottom two. Both of them seemed worried.

"The Pokemon that will be leaving us tonight is…Klink. Spinarak, come get your poffin."

Klink's faces were shocked. "But, how, why, what did we do wrong?"

Rotom shrugged, "I don't know really, we didn't vote for you. I guess you were unlucky."

Klink sighed, "Better go say my last words then."

**000**

**Klink: We never really expected this to happen to us so early. I mean, we haven't made any enemies and we do have a couple friends. So this came as a shock to us. Well, we'd like Blitzle or Rotom to win, they were our best friends here.**

**000**

Klink left after saying a few goodbyes to his team as everyone left to go to sleep. Latios was cleaning up the campfire pit when he noticed a round metal object on the ground.

"Someone must have dropped this." He thought as he picked it up.

Little did he know, as he picked up the object, a large bucket of the mystery dish fell from a branch above him. When he looked up, it was too late and he was covered by the gray stuff. A picture floated down and Latios grabbed it. As soon as he saw the picture, he began to seethe.

"ROTOM! LAMPENT! YOU TWO ARE GONNA REGRET THIS!" he shouted at the top of his lungs, his voice echoing throughout the night.

* * *

><p>Time to announce the winner of minicontest who is…*drumroll*someone I will PM as soon as I get my internet back. Yes. I'm just that big of a troll.<p>

I'm sorry if that moment between Rotom and Lampent was cheesy, I'm a complete newbie when it comes to writing romance.

Klink's gone, not much to say there. Most of you probably won't be very sad about that anyway

Sorry for the late upload, school's been a pain in my rear and I'm working on applying to colleges. Yeah, I'm leaving my home soon, but it doesn't mean I'm going to stop writing this story!

* * *

><p><strong>Klink: Please review! And get your best friend to do so as well!<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Next Time: The campers better have a keen eye if they want to win the next challenge. This scavenger hunt will push them to their limits. One camper will confront another, and someone's true face will finally be revealed. But in the end, accidents will cause someone to leave the island earlier than they expect.<strong>


	11. Military Daze

**Happy Thanksgiving, and Merry Christmas and, New Years, and Valentine's Day. I am very sorry I haven't been able to update since I've been in a bit of a rut trying to come up with new ideas.**

**This chapter was hell for me to write, just saying.**

**Well, we're finally starting to get somewhere in this story which is great. This story really needs momentum.**

**Enough of my ramblings, onto the chapter!**

* * *

><p>"Got any fives?" Spinarak asked.<p>

"Nope. Go fish." Joltik answered.

"Wait, I thought we were playing Old Maid." Shuckle remarked.

"Well we were playing Texas Hold 'em earlier, but Joltik said that was too complicated. So we decided to play Go Fish instead." Spinarak said.

"Wait, that was Texas? I thought we were playing Blackjack!" Shuckle exclaimed.

The other two bug types stared at her for a little bit, both of them with confused looks on their faces.

**000**

**Shuckle: Did I ever mention I have really short term memory loss?**

**000**

"By the way Joltik," Spinarak said. "I don't seem to be crawling around on everyone else as much now."

"No I still am." Joltik remarked. "In fact, I'm crawling on someone right now?"

"Wha? But I don't see anyone!" Shuckle said.

"What am I? Chopped liver?" Came a voice from underneath Joltik.

Spinarak and Shuckle looked over and saw a familiar brown face.

"Hi. Good morning to you to." Stunfisk drawled.

"He's been letting me walk all over him, plus his electricity makes a great snack!" Joltik said enthusiastically.

"You really owe me for this." Stunfisk said, looking up at the happy attaching Pokémon.

All of a sudden the intercom blared, causing the four Pokémon in the cabin to cover their ears, if they could.

"ALL CAMPERS REPORT TO THE DOCKS! YOUR CHALLENGE AWAITS!" Latias's voice echoed through the intercom.

"Great Ms. I-hate-Stunfisk is ready to torture us again. Yippee." Stunfisk said in a deadpan voice.

"Well we better get going if we want to be there on time. I'm heading out." Shuckle said as she put down her cards and walked out. As she got to the stairs, she tripped over one of her legs and tumbled down them. Everyone in the cabin winced as she hit the ground then quickly rushed over. They saw her red shell at the bottom

"You okay?" Spinarak asked.

Shuckle popped out of her shell. "Yup, don't worry I'm fine, my shell has protected me for a while now. Whenever I fall, I duck inside and I come out fine. Come on, let's go!"

**000**

**Shuckle: Yeah, I also have a really bad depth perception, sense of balance, and body coordination. Basically why I don't, and can't, dance.**

**000**

Soon enough everyone had gathered at the docks. To their surprise Latias wasn't there, but instead, Latios, dressed in military garb, sunglasses, dogtags and a toothpick in his mouth.

"We're not in Vietnam so cut the cosplay GI Joke." Rotom said with a snicker.

Latio looked at the ghost and spit his toothpick out to the side and inhaled deeply.

"ATTEN-SHUN!" He shouted, causing everyone jump.

"Form a line!" He then shouted. Everyone looked around confused. "NOW MAGGOTS!" The campers scrambled around, trying to put themselves in a line.

"Knees together! Back straight! Arms to your side! Look straightforward!" Latios shouted as the campers got into a line. When they finished, Latios looked around and smiled.

"Alright, now that you're in a line, I bet you're wondering what the challenge is today." Latios smugly said.

"Yeah, we've been kinda waiting for a while now." Stunfisk drawled.

"Hey, you're supposed to sass my sister, not me. Understand private?" Latios said pointing a finger at Stunfisk.

"Yes sir." Stunfisk said in a deadpan voice.

"Now then. Today's challenge is a scavenger hunt, but ain't no ordinary scavenger hunt."

"Please tell us oh wise one." Stunfisk said sarcastically.

Latios turned to the flounder and glared at him, "Now I see why my sister hates you so much. But to answer you, every object you find can only be obtained if you go through the military training course that lies before it. Only one member of your team can go through the course. At the end of the course, there will be an item with either a Lugia crest or a Ho-Oh crest. Grab the one that corresponds to your team and come back to the dock to drop it off with me. However, you can't grab the one for the other team and hide it. Whichever team collects all of their items and gets back here first wins. I'll give you a list of items you need to find. From there it's up to you to decide on what to do. You begin in five minutes. DISMISSED!" Latios teleported away, leaving the campers at the dock. There was an awkward silence at the dock.

"So, what now?" Blitzle asked.

No one answered.

**000**

Latios teleported to the back of the Mess Hall. He looked around to make sure no one was there. He grabbed a small key from underneath a potted plant and unlocked the back door and went into the kitchen.

"So, how's life?" Latios asked with a smug look.

"It sucks!" Latias shouted. She had on a pair of yellow rubber gloves and was in the middle of washing dishes. "Why don't we have a dishwasher to do this work?"

"We do actually. Right over there." Latios said, pointing to a small machine on a nearby counter.

"But I thought that was a toaster oven!" Latias exclaimed.

"No, the toaster oven is actually right next to it." Latios said pointing to another machine about the same size as the dishwasher.

Latias slammed her head onto the nearby counter. "Why did this happen?" She wailed.

"Hey, it was an order from the higher-ups, not my choice either." Latios responded, relaxing on a nearby counter.

"Yeah, I know, we can't go against them, even if we hate it." Latias groaned.

"Really? I'm enjoying our position swap for the day. You be the co-host and work on everything, while I, the host, get to relax and chill after telling what the campers have to do for the day. Wonder what they're doing now…" Latios pondered

**000**

The Lugias had gotten to a fast moving river. In front was a small sign.

"Cross this rushing river and makes sure not to get swept away. Restrictions: No water-types, flying-types or Pokémon that can float are allowed to do this." Roserade read. "Any takers?"

Bisharp raised his hand. "I'll do it. I'm probably one of the only few people here that can take this current."

He jumped into the waist-deep river and walked to the other side. It took him a while before he was able to cross but was successful. He noticed a pedestal and walked over and noticed what was on top.

"Hmm, Swiss army knives. How appropriate." He muttered to himself. He grabbed one with the Lugia's symbol on it and walked back across the river to his teammates.

**000**

"So who wants to go?" Feebas asked.

The Ho-Ohs were standing in front of a balance beam. But it was no ordinary balance beam. There were large hammers swinging back and forth.

"I'll give it a try." Serperior said. "Can't be too hard." He got onto the beam and dogged the first couple of swinging hammers.

He turned his head as he kept moving. "See, this is easy-" He was cut off as a hammer knocked into him and sent him flying to the trees.

**000**

**Spiritomb: Famous last words, those were.**

**000**

As the team tried to get Serperior to regain consciousness, Zangoose cleared the balance beam and got the team a non-functional compass.

"That's one down." Zangoose remarked, "Which way should we go next?"

"I say we go that way." Altaria said pointing her wing in the direction she wanted them to go. After a short walk, the Ho-Ohs saw the next course. There was a large patch of mud and hovering right over it, was a net of barbed wire.

"I vote Aron does this course." Sawk said. Everyone agreed.

"Why do I have to?" Aron whined slightly.

"Because, the net is made out of barbed wire which is made out of metal." Spiritomb answered. " Just eat through it and get the item at the end okay?"

Aron's eyes brightened and he jumped toward the net, happily chewing through the wire. With a satisfied burp, he went to the other side, grabbed an empty canteen and returned to his team.

**000**

The Lugias had just arrived at a large clearing. A section was roped off and nearby, there was a small table, two safes, and a lever. On a table there was a sniper rifle, a double-barrel shotgun, a revolver, and a pistol. There were also earmuffs, protective glasses, extra bullets for each gun, and a note.

"For this part, pull the lever and hit all targets as they appear. If you fail, pull the lever to reset the targets and try again. When all targets are hit, your item will appear." Espeon read.

**000**

**Latios: We interrupt this program to let you know that we have permission to let the campers to hold firearms, even though they may not have a license to carry a gun or any experience using one. Now back to the show.**

**000**

"So, who has a good aim?" Espeon asked.

No one volunteered at first. Zoroark silently looked away.

**000**

**Zoroark: I knew I could do this part, I have experience with various firearms. But…I just…sigh… I just don't know anymore…**

**000 **

Kingdra shrugged, "I'll go do it then, my ability is Sniper after all. Pull the lever, and I'll use Water Gun to hit the targets"

Lucario pulled the lever and Kingdra went to work. 8 targets popped out at once, and all it took was 8 shots to finish.

"Well, that was easy."

A safe popped open and Gardevoir and pulled out a medal.

"We got the item! Onto the next one!" she said cheerfully.

The team started walking through the woods. Eventually, they reached a large rock wall.

"I'm assuming we're going to have to climb to the top to get what we need." Rotom commented.

"No shit Sherlock." Stunfisk sarcastically responded.

Rotom gave a quick glare at the sarcastic flounder, "So who wants to-." Rotom was cut off as a blue blur ran in front of him, running up the wall.

The figure got to the top and grabbed a small medal before jumping to the bottom, who happened to Lucario.

Everyone just stared.

"What are you all looking at?" Lucario asked.

**000**

**Roserade: *fanning herself* Wow…that was just, wow. Um, is it warm in here? **

**000**

"For the last time, will someone please pick up a gun and shoot the targets already?" Sawk shouted, extremely irritated.

The Ho-Ohs were standing at the shooting range the Lugias were at earlier. They had gotten the Swiss army knife by the river and an empty can of tuna after going through a trail of tires and Serperior had also woken up from his "nap". Sawk had been trying to get someone to do the part for a good 5 minutes. Still no one colunteered.

"I've never held a gun before and I don't want to get my coat all dirty with that gunpowder. I for one do not volunteer for this work." Persian said while checking her nails.

Spiritomb glared at her from the side, then looked back. "I nominate Magneton." He said.

"BZZT. PLEASE PROVIDE EVIDENCE FOR YOUR DECISION. BZZT." Magneton replied within nanoseconds.

"Don't you have a targeting function?" Spiritomb asked.

"BZZT. AFFIRMATIVE. BZZT."

"Use that to lock-on to the targets, or what's left of them, then fire."

"BZZT. UNDERSTOOD. UPLOADING ACTION SEQUENCE. BZZT." Magneton beeped as he floated to the edge of rope. A couple more beeps later, he began charging some electricity in his magnets and suddenly fired one large blast of electricity. A large light engulfed the forest and just as quickly, it faded, leaving nothing but a smoking crater.

Everyone looked at the crater. "Cryogonal would be very proud." Serperior commented.

**000**

"Htachooo!" Cryogonal sneezed. He was currently on another nearby island with all of the other eliminated Pokémon. It was quite a luxurious island, but details will be saved for a later chapter.

"Aww, does the snowflake have the chills?" Pineco said with a chuckle.

Seconds later the bagworm found himself frozen in a block of ice, floating in the pool.

**000**

"Anyways, we should find the next spot. Arceus knows how many items the other team has collected." Zangoose commented. Everyone was in agreement and they left.

As the team walked they approached a small dirt ledge.

Then they heard a cry.

Persian had slipped and knocked Cloyster and Spiritomb off the ledge into some of the trees below. The team crowded around where the three had fallen.

"You guys okay?" Altaria asked loudly.

"We're as safe, like a Beheeyem's ship in Area 51!" Cloyster responded. The team gave each other confused glances, though they did cringe a little.

"I guess they're alright."

"Probably."

"We'll meet you guys a different location, I'll contact you guys telepathically to see where you are." Spiritomb called out to them.

"Alright, we'll be waiting." Serperior said. With that, the team walked off.

"Well, we should be moving too, am I correct?" Persian said, dusting herself off. However, Spiritomb and Cloyster didn't move. Instead they were glaring at her with serious faces.

She turned back with a confused look on her face. "What's wrong boys?" She asked innocently.

"Don't tell me what's wrong. You know it yourself." Spiritomb said in a stern voice.

Persian shrugged, "Honestly, I have no idea. Now can we please get going, my nails are starting to crack." Persian walked forward only to be met by a spiked end of Cloyster's shell.

"Not so fast." Spiritomb threatened. "We aren't leaving until you answer my questions Persian. Oh and by the way, you can stop that pointless façade, I can see right through it."

"How do you know that I'm putting up a façade? What's your proof?" She asked defensively.

"I've been watching you all this time."

"Ew. That's kind of creepy you know that?"

Spiritomb wanted to face-palm himself, though he lacked the limbs to do so. "That's NOT what I meant. I meant that I've been observing your movements."

"Still creepy."

"Just shut up for a second!" Spiritomb shouted. Even though this woman was annoying the crap out of him, he had to admit, she put on a good act.

"What I meant is I've noticed some strange things in your actions. You act like you're a snobby, narcissistic brat, but really, you've just woven a disguise of deception, lies and trickery."

"Pray tell how I did that."

"Simple, you've been using me, Cloyster and Cryogonal as tools for your own plans."

Cloyster looked slightly shocked at this statement, but Persian's gaze didn't change a bit.

"You found out about our alliance and knew we would seek you out for our alliance, so you did nothing and waited for us to come to you. From there, you've kept up your disguise as we did the dirty work, choosing who to eliminate, creating and executing plans. You would then use my plans and blame me for everything, leaving you in the clear. As for me and the alliance, we would take all the blame and be erased before given a chance to speak. You were planning on throwing us under the bus the whole damn time, weren't you."

Persian tilted her head and smirked. "That's nice and all but where's your proof? If you don't have any, then everything you've said is pointless."

Spiritomb chuckled. "Oh I have proof alright. The elimination after the singing challenge is proof enough. You were supposed to go after that elimination. Serperior and his gang told me based on their votes, Chinchou wasn't supposed to go home, yet she did. And why is that? You must have changed the votes somehow. You knew me and Cloyster were going to vote for you so you had to change some other votes, Sawk's , Altaria's and Feebas's to be exact.

Persian was quiet, her gaze had narrowed and was now glaring at Spiritomb. He smirked.

"Seems like I've hit the nail on the head. So now I must ask you, how did you know that me and Cloyster were going to try to vote you off?"

Persian took a deep breath and closed her eyes. When she opened them, they had a more sinister tone to them.

Well," She said, "I'd like to congratulate you for seeing through my flawless acting, few actually know of my true colors. Now to answer your question, I found out five challenges ago."

"So during the capture the flag game."

"Precisely. I had noticed you and crazy boy over here talking and thought I could get some juicy info out of you two. Turns out I found out about a plan to get rid of me instead. I couldn't possibly let that happen, so I decided to do my own thing. So yes, it's just as you said, you three would take the blame while I would dominate over this game and make everyone else my little lapdogs." She began to laugh evilly as she finished, not noticing the glares she was getting from the two next to her.

Spiritomb was the angriest one, this woman was truly evil. Sure he had dark motives, but this was borderline sadistic. From her tone he could tell that she would do whatever it took to get to the top, anything but put her own self in danger.

He started to smirk, this was fine though. She fell for the trap, hook, line and sinker.

Persian stopped laughing, "Anything else you want to ask, or are we done here?" She said with an evil smile.

Spiritomb smiled, "Yes actually, we should call a truce between us."

Persian looked confused. "A truce with me? You must have be joking, after what I've reveled to you? No way."

"I was thinking you'd answer like that. Guess I have no choice. Cloyster, show her."

The purple shell smirked, He opened up a little and shook out a small metallic object. Persian instantly knew what it was.

"Clever, you brought a voice recorder with you. I would never had guessed."

Spiritomb smiled, "Cloyster's shell isn't only useful for holding flags you know."

He bounced toward her, "Now then, I'll say it again, we should call a truce. And realize this isn't a proposition, it's an order."

Persian sighed, "I guess you planned for me to fall and isolate us from everyone else. Well done. Looks like I'll have to accept, you give me no choice then."

Spiritomb nodded. "Very well then. I will still be keeping watch over you, just to let you know."

"Again, creepy."

"For the love of Arceus shut up!"

**000**

**Latias: Oh man, ratings are going to skyrocket after this!**

**Latios: I know right? Now are you glad I did this challenge?**

**Latias: Totally! *The two Pokemon hi-five***

**000**

As the two legendaries exited the confessional, they heard a loud rumbling noise, they looked to its source and found it was the laundry cabin.

Latios looked at Latias curiously, "You were doing laundry just now right?"

"Yeah, any problems?"

Latios moved towards the door, "You did use laundry detergent right?" he asked.

"Yeah, I used the box we had."

"How much?"

"The whole thing."

"Wait wha-"

Latios was cut off as he opened the door and got swallowed by a massive flood of bubbles and water. When it cleared, he was looking at his sister, underneath a massive pile of bed sheets.

"Too much detergent? Latias asked sheepishly.

"YOU THINK?"

**000**

Bisharp stood with his team in the forest. They had just gotten the flag thanks to Stunfisk's efforts. "Okay, let me double check the list. So far we have the flag, the lighter, the medal, and the swiss army knife. We have to find a canteen, a compass, an empty can of tuna, and a flashlight." Bisharp said. "We better get moving, seeing as we're only half way done."

**000**

"BZZT. CONFIRMING RETREIVAL OF MEDAL. ITEMS LEFT TO FIND: FLAG, FLASHLIGHT. QUERY: WHERE ARE THESE ITEMS LOCATED?"

"That's what we're trying to find out aren't we?" Absol answered, slightly annoyed.

Spiritomb, Persian and Cloyster had joined the rest of the team at the rock wall which had been just finished by Sawk, now covered in bruises and his gi torn in a couple places.

"Stupid slippery rocks and spikes." He grumbled under his breath. It seems that during Lucario's climb up, he completely ignored the traps that were set up.

"Okay guys, settle down." Spiritomb said, trying to get everyone's attention. He would have clapped but he lacked hands, so he had to settle for Cloyster's laugh.

"Now that I have all of your attentions, we should head to the lake. I was able to read the minds of the other team and they got the flag from there. Let's go."

**000**

**Spiritomb: Heh heh heh. I've basically taken charge of the whole team. They'll do anything I say. Wonder what would happen if I ask one of them to make me a sandwich…**

**000**

The Lugias had been walking around in the forest for a good 45 minutes without finding anything. They had found everything they needed but the flashlight. Some of members were getting a bit tired.

"We've been walking for so long!" Blitzle whined a little.

"And he's also running out of electricity for me to suck on." Joltik chimed in.

"Unless you know where the last item is located, can you please be quiet?" Bisharp sighed. He had to deal with these kinds of complaints during for the last fifteen minutes. To him, it seemed like forever.

"Heh, who knows, maybe it's sitting right in front of us and we won't notice til the end." Rotom joked with a chuckle.

"Yeah, like the cliff from the first challenge or something." Lampent joked along with him.

A silence then passed through the team. All of a sudden, thirteen members instantly bolted toward the cliff, leaving Shuckle behind.

"Wait! Where are you all going? Don't leave me behind!" She shouted as she tried to catch up with her team.

**000**

"Okay, now that we have the flag, we just need the flashlight. Any ideas?" Spiritomb asked.

Most Ho-Ohs shrugged. Suddenly, they saw the other team burst out of the woods and run pass them.

"Wonder what's gotten them so worked up." Absol muttered.

Shuckle then crawled out, looking quite tired, "You guys see where my team went?" Serperior pointed his tail in the general direction. "Thanks, they were making jokes that the flashlight was at the cliff and then just left without me."

A couple of the Ho-Oh's eyes widened when they heard this. They all looked at each other, and then ran, following the other team.

Shuckle was shocked, "Hey! Where are you guys going? Don't you guys leave me in the dark too!"

**000**

The Lugias reached the top of cliff first. Lampent's guess was right. In front of them were four chests, two with a Lugia symbol, two with a Ho-Oh symbol. There were also two tables, one with each team's insignia, with a couple bags and a note on each of them. Spinarak read it.

"'Open the bags and inside you will find a bunch of puzzle pieces. Assemble the pieces to make a three number combination. Use this three number combination to open the first chest. Inside you'll find a key. Open the second chest with this key. Inside the second chest you'll find six more chests. The key will open one of these chests and inside will be the flashlight. Good luck.' How is this military based?"

"I'll explain," Latios said, as he suddenly flew in front of them. "This will test teamwork and ability to think quickly. On the battlefield you must show loyalty to your comrades, or else they'll turn against you when you need help the most. You must also know what to do uncer pressure, or else your doomed to get a bullet to the arm, unless you're fighting Amazons, then you might take an arrow to the knee."

"Did you really just use a Skyrim meme?" Stunfisk said.

Latios just waved him away. "In any case, you better start, the other team is coming. I need to go make sure Latias doesn't blow anything up, she's making dinner." They heard a small explosion in the distance. "And I think I might be too late. Ciao!" He said before he flew off to the main campgrounds.

As soon as Latios left, the Lugias began opening the bags and spilling the contents to start on the puzzle. The Ho-Ohs arrived soon after and quickly went to the other table.

"Sawk, grab the card and tell us what's on there. Everyone else, start opening those bags like the other team."

Everyone went to work and Sawk grabbed the card. "Ow! Papercut!" he said, sucking on his index finger before opening the card and reading off what it said.

Two minutes elapsed before the Lugias had figured out the puzzle.

"We got it!" Gardevoir shouted. "It's 8-6-7!" Zoroark began turning the dials on the lock. He heard a click and opened the chest. Bisharp and Lucario pulled the smaller chests out while Espeon levitated the key out of the chest.

At the same time, the other team had finished their puzzle.

"5-30-9!" Zangoose called out to Magneton who quickly opened the locking mechanism on the chest, while Serperior got the keys and chests out.

Each team now was trying to find which chest the key would fit in.

"Try that chest!"

"BZZT. NEGATORY. ALREADY TRIED ONCE. BZZT."

"What about that one?"

"Not yet, let me try this one first."

"Hurry up then!"

"I'm trying!"

The Lugias were the first to get their flashlight, and the whole team began running down the cliff. Shuckle, meanwhile, was struggling to reach the top and noticed her team running towards her.

"Where you guys going now?" she shouted.

"Flashlight. Got it. Campground. Hurry!" Joltik shouted to his teammate as the rest of the team ran past her.

The Ho-Ohs soon opened their chest and started sprinting down the mountain. They moved quickly, not wanting to end up in at elimination.

Shuckle heard the sound of running behind her. She turned around and saw the Ho-Ohs behind her. She squeaked and started to move faster. Unfortunately, she was overtaken by the team and left coughing in their dust. As she closed her eyes, trying to get the dust out of her eyes she tripped on a rock.

Time seemed to slow down then and there.

She hit Sawk in the back, who then tumbled into Zangoose, who tripped and hit Magneton, who fell onto Persian and soon, everyone else on the Ho-Ohs caught in a giant tumbling mass rolling down the hill.

Down the hill, Espeon's ears perked up as she heard something. She looked behind her and was shocked to see the other team rolling down the hill right behind her.

"Move everyone, before we get swallowed by the giant ball behind us!"

"The what?" Bisharp asked, looking behind him and seeing the giant ball of Pokémon right behind the team.

"Oh shit! RUN!" He shouted, the Lugias trying to pick up speed.

It was in vain.

The Lugias soon got swallowed up by the mass and began rolling down the hill towards the campgrounds.

**000**

**Shuckle: Eh heh heh heh. Whoops.**

**000**

Latios, meanwhile, was at the main campground sitting in a patio chair sipping lemonade under a parasol. He put his glass on a table next to him while Latias in a maid's outfit poured him another glass of lemonade.

"Ah, this is the life, I can see why you like hosting this so much." He said, relaxing into the chair.

"Yeah, but I don't make you my personal butler and make you wear an outfit to boot. Where did you get this maid's outfit anyway?" She huffed.

"Heatran. Saw it in his closet and he said I could have because he was getting a new one."

"Okay that makes sense. But why are you making me do anything you want again?"

"So I keep my lips shut about you blowing up the kitchen and say one of the contestants did it instead."

"Fine." Latias said grudgingly. She then noticed something in the distance. "Hey, is that the campers in a giant ball heading towards us?"

Latios looked over. "Seems like it."

"Are you going to do anything about it?"

Latios shrugged, "Maybe."

"Well you better do it soon cause they're coming!" Latias shouted.

Latios casually took the glass of lemonade and sipped. "Reflect." He said as he raised his hand up and projected a wall of Psychic energy a past the entrance of the campgrounds.

Seconds later, the giant mass crashed into the Reflect and everyone in it toppled onto the ground.

Most contestants found themselves on top of one another, some more uncomfortable than the others. Roserade had landed on Lucario's back, Aron's head was balanced on top of one of Magneton's magnets, Cloyster was crushing Stunfisk and Persian, Espeon was underneath Absol's back, Kingdra and Zangoose both landed on Serperior, while Joltik, Lampent, Spinarak, Rotom, and Shuckle had somehow made a small pyramid using their bodies, Bisharp was face-down in the ground and was about to get up until Spiritomb's rock hit him in the head, and Zoroark's right arm was resting gently on Gadevoir's collarbone.

Everyone groaned as they got up, rubbing parts of their body that were sore. Some jumped when they realized who they were on, while some just casually got up and walked over to Latios. As Gardevoir opened her eyes, she saw Zoroark's sickly scab. She gasped in surprise and Zoroark noticed. He quickly moved his arm away and covered the scab with his left hand.

"Zoroark, what was that?" Gardevoir asked in a concerned voice. She had never seen an injury like that before and judging from the color, it looked very painful.

"Nothing." He whispered solemnly. "Don't worry about it, you don't need to know."

"B-but you should really get that checked out, I mean who knows-" Zoroark cut her off and walked away toward Latios.

Gardevoir seemed crestfallen. "I was just trying to help." She whispered sadly.

**000**

**Zoroark: Great, just great. Things have just gone from bad to worse.**

**000**

"Well, you all seem fine." Latios said. "That's great cause I'm going to announce that the Lugias are the losers tonight and you will see me at elimination tonight."

"And how are you going to prove that they crossed the line first?" Bisharp shouted.

"Easy, with this photo." Latios presented said item and placed his finger on it. "As you can see here, when all of you were rolling here, Feebas's fin crossed the line, and therefore, the Ho-Ohs made it here first. Get it? Got it? Good. You have until tonight to cast your vote." With that, Latios and Latias left the campgrounds, leaving the campers alone.

"What I would like to know is, how did this whole thing happen in the first place?" Roserade asked.

"Well I got hit in the back by something and then tumbled into everyone else." Sawk said. "Don't know who or what hit me though."

"That was actually me." Shuckle said sheepishly. "I got dust in my eye then tripped and hit you and then this whole thing happened. Sorry."

"Well that settles that, it was Shuckle's fault." Persian stated simply with a wag of her tail. "I should get going now, my nails have an appointment with my file."

Everyone murmured as they left the campgrounds to go do their respective things. Shuckle though, was visibly worried; the last words Persian said had been etched deep into her mind.

**000**

**Shuckle: I think I might be in a bit of a bind here.**

**000**

On his way to the cabin, Bisharp noticed something glimmer. Curious, he walked over and picked it up, it was a pure black stone that had a nice sheen to it. Smiling, he pocketed it and walked to his cabin.

**000**

**Bisharp: *holding the stone* This rock intrigues me, I wonder what it is. Hey, maybe it's a good luck charm.**

**000**

That night, all the Lugias were gathered at elimination. Latios had the poffin case on the podium, a card was in his hands.

"Well, back again Lugias, let's see who's going to be voted out tonight. Poffins go to, Roserade, Gardevoir, Blitzle and Stunfisk." Latios said as he tossed the Pokémon poffins.

"Bisharp, Spinarak, Lucario and Lampent." Poffins were tossed to the four who happily ate them.

"Espeon, Kingdra, Joltik and as much as I hate to say it, Rotom, also safe for tonight." Rotom grinned as he caught his poffin, who was also receiving glares from Latios.

"Zoroark and Shuckle, bottom two tonight. Shuckle, your accident today cost your team the challenge, and you aren't the best when it comes to overall physical strength." Shuckle was doncast after hearing the comments. "Zoroark, I guess you could be here because you haven't been very helpful lately, but you have done well on occasion." Zoroark didn't budge, he just stared at the ground.

"The Pokémon who continues is…" Latios paused dragging on the tension.

"Zoroark." The fox caught the poffin in his hand, though a bit too forceful and crushed it in the process.

"Sorry Shuckle, please head to the confessional and say your last words." Shuckle sighed in defeat and slowly crawled to the confessional outhouse.

**000**

**Shuckle: I can't say I'm surprised, I mean I did kind of screw up pretty badly today and like Latios said, I haven't been doing too well either. I guess I'd like Spinarak or Joltik to win. Stunfisk too I guess. That's it I suppose. See you all soon!**

**000**

As Shuckle left and her teammates bid her farewell, Spiritomb, Cloyster and Persian met in the woods.

"You know if you hadn't said that, Shuckle might not have left." Spiritomb said sternly to Persian.

She shrugged, "Why are you so fussy about it? She wasn't important."

"That's exactly the reason why. Since she was so unimportant and weak, we could have kept her until the final four. From there, it'd be an easy shot for the rest of us. They could have voted off someone powerful instead but you had to go say that."

"Oh don't be so upset, they're still plenty of weak players here."

Spiritomb scowled, "You have a point, but don't do it again. Or else I'll be forced to play that tape."

Persian's gaze became serious, "You wouldn't dare."

"Oh yes, I would, and I know a way for you to take ALL of the blame. Do whatever you want now, but understand, we're still watching you."

"Do I have to say it?"

Cloyster just cackled.

* * *

><p><strong>Finally done after so long! Once again I apologize for the lack of new chapters, I'll try the best I can to get the next one out sometime soon. I have a better idea for it anyway.<strong>

**Honestly though, chapters are getting hard to write, so it might take me longer to get new chapters.  
><strong>

**Shuckle's out. She in my opinion was a background character, who had some moments, but not many.**

* * *

><p><strong>Shuckle: Review please! *She bows but falls off the seat*<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Next Time: Pokémon pair up and battle to the DEATH! Well not exactly to the death, but there will be battles. Before the challenge, an old, familiar face returns to throw a wrench into things by one team's choosing. Two Pokémon show some changes, one for the better, the other, not so much. One Pokémon reveals their darkest secret and gains the comfort of another. At the end of the night, one Pokémon leaves conflicted and wishing they could stay just a little longer. <strong>


	12. Doubles Trouble! Surprises Galore!

**Sorry for the extremely long wait, I was in a coma for a couple months…just kidding! I just had bad writer's block and I've been working on an animation at the same time. Yeah, not smart.**

**I've decided to change the confessionals a little bit, making them more like DA's style since the format fits better that way.**

**This is also the longest chapter so far, yeah, I went all out with 10,000+ words.**

**This will be the last chapter I don't do a summary for, since a good portion of you seem to want them.**

* * *

><p>Bisharp was laying down on his back on the beach. In his hand was the stone he had found after the last challenge. He held it up to sky and looked at the sun with it. It was black, though a bit transparent, and reflected the sun's rays.<p>

"Curious, curious indeed." He muttered to himself. "It's pretty hard and dense, maybe it's a gemstone."

Unknown to Bisharp, someone was watching him from afar, watching him intently.

**000**

"**Looks like someone's found my little 'present'." Said a mysterious figure in the confessional. "I surely hope he savors it…" they finished, flashing a large grin.**

**000**

Latios was washing laundry. He and Latias had switched back from being host and co-host after Latias did a horrible job. He was putting dirty tablecloths in the washing machine, when all of a sudden, the hose in the back lifted up and started spraying him in the face.

"Ack-pbth-wh-blub-pff-glub-" Latios blubbered as he tried to get away from the water. He held his hands in front of him, holding the water back as he was slowly pushed to the floor. As soon as he hit the floor, he felt pain. More specifically, mousetraps had snapped onto his backside.

"AUGH!" He shouted loudly, when all of a sudden, more mousetraps fell onto him and snapping onto him in the process.

"Ow." He said in an extremely high-pitched voice as he sat on the ground in the laundry room, his eye twitching in pain.

**000**

"**Oh god, if I had sides, they would be aching so much right now!" Rotom laughed with Lampent in the confessional.**

"**Creepy floating jack-o-lantern next time?" Lampent suggested as she laughed.**

"**Totally!" Rotom said as he high-fived Lampent.**

**000**

"Everyone, may I have your attention please. Meet me at the south beach for the next challenge." Latias's voice blared through the speakers. "Also, Nurse Audino, it's that challenge so you better come too. Bring a couple gurneys and lots of painkillers and bandages just in case."

**000**

"**Gurneys? Painkillers? Bandages? Sounds like things Sawk needs on a daily basis." Absol said with a slight tone of amusement in his voice. "But seriously, what the heck are we doing? I'll pass if we're climbing another mountain again. We all know how well that went last time."**

**000**

**Sawk looked determined. "By no means will I require any one of the aforementioned items today. I guarantee it!" He pumped his arms into the air but hit the wall. "Owwww…"**

**000**

A little at a time, the campers gathered at the south beach. In the water, was a large rectangular platform suspended a couple feet in the air. Placed next to it were two stepladders.

Latioas and Latias both appeared, Latios with a bandage wrapping all over his body.

"Woah, who decided to anger a Confagrigus?" Blitzle chuckled.

"I don't want to talk about it." Latios grumbled.

"Leaving mummy-Pokemon aside, today, you'll be fighting doubles battles against the other team!" Latias exclaimed enthusiastically.

"Wait, both teams have an odd number of members." Gardevoir commented.

"And they have two more members than we do." Zangoose added.

"I was getting to that." Latias said with a growl. "Seriously are all of you this impatient?"

"Yes." Stunfisk said in a monotone voice.

"Moving on. Lugias, for this challenge, you'll have to sit someone out. Whoever sits will be given immunity for the night should your team lose. Ho-ohs, you guys get to bring back a former camper to help you out for this challenge only. You have five minutes, so make your picks."

**000**

"So who should we sit out?" Roserade asked.

"Well first, who wants to sit out?" Bisharp asked.

Almost everyone raised their hand.

Bisharp put a hand to his forehead, "Ugh, I don't have time for this. Just decide it with a game of rock-paper-scissors, I don't really care. Hey, anyone got some aspirin?"

A couple of the war council members looked at him quizzically.

**000**

"**Bisharp isn't taking an initiative? This is a first," said Lucario. **

**000**

**Bisharp was still gripping his head, "I've got this massive headache all of a sudden, it's like my head is buzzing with a hive of Combees. Makes it hard to think."**

**000**

"So who do we have to choose from?" Feebas asked.

"There's Pineco, Doduo, Numel, Cyogonal, and Chinchou, to choose from." Spiritomb answered. "Personally, I think Cryogonal would be the best choice."

"Why's that?" Persian asked. "He nearly killed us the last time he battled."

"Well yes, but that just shows how much power he has. He was the most powerful member we had on our team. He would be perfect for this challenge. What do you all think?"

"While I think he's dangerous, he's out best bet for this challenge, so yes." Serperior said.

**000**

"Five minutes are up!" Latias shouted. "Are all of your decisions made?"

"Yeah, I'm sitting out for the challenge." Stunfisk drawled.

Latias scowled. "Very well then." She growled. "Ho-ohs?"

"We would like Cryogonal to come and help us." Spiritomb said casually.

The other team gasped. They were going to have a hard time against the most destructive and powerful camper.

"Okay then. I'll make a call and bring Cryogonal back. In the meantime, split your team into six teams of two for the double battles. Write them all down on separate pieces of paper and put them in the box on the table with your team's insignia on it. We'll then call out teams to fight each other on the platform in the water. The team that either knocks out the other team or knocks them off the platform will win the round. The first team to get four wins will win the challenge. In the case of a three to three tie, a winning duo from each team will be sent up to battle as the final tiebreaker. Now get deciding."

**000**

"Okay, just pair up with someone you think you'll do well with. I'll pair up with whoever's left. My splitting headache's getting worse." Bisharp said with a wave.

Lampent and Rotom immediately got together while Roserade tapped Lucario on the back, who nodded. Spinarak jumped on Espeon's back who made a small battle cry, which amused Espeon and she mimicked Spinarak's action. Blitzle clopped over to Kingdra who gave agreed to partner with him.

Gardevoir walked over to Zoroark and tapped him on the shoulder. He looked over, and immediately turned back, prepared to walk away. However, Gardevoir garbed his right arm before he could get away.

"Listen," she said in a stern voice, "I don't know what you're hiding here and I doubt anyone else here knows either. No matter who you pair up with, they might find out. Only I know, so by pairing up with me, no one else will learn." Zoroark bit his lip in thought.

"Please realize that I'm only trying to help you," she continued, "I won't pry into it if you don't feel like talking about it."

After a couple seconds, the fox let out a long sigh.

"Let's do it."

**000**

**Zoroark sighed. "Gardevoir brought up a good point. She's the only person I can really trust right now. I just hope that I don't have tell her my secret before I leave, we all know it's coming."**

**000**

That left Joltik by himself to pair with Bisharp, both of them not minding much.

**000**

Spiritomb was making the pairs for his team.

"Magneton and Aron, you two will work together, use magnetism somehow to coordinate attacks. Zangoose and Altaria, unleash death from above. Absol, watch Sawk's back."

"Hey!"

"Moving on, I think Cloyster should be paired with Cryogonal. You know what happened last time when those two went on a rampage."

Absol shuddered, he remembered all too well.

"I'll pair with Persian, leaving Feebas and Serperior to pair together. No offense to you Feebas, but you're probably the weakest member here so I put you with one of the stronger members of the team."

Feebas nodded, slightly depressed, while Serperior snickered.

**000**

**Serperior was happy, "Spiritomb thinks I'm one of the stronger members of the team? That's awesome, I feel so much better about myself!"**

**000**

"**A little flattery never hurt," Spiritomb said, "I just hope he doesn't get in over his head and loses it for us."**

**000**

"Okay everyone, let's get this challenge underway!" Latias shouted in a mic at the table, "The first two teams fighting are…Lampent and Rotom vs. Spiritomb and Persian. Quite a fight wouldn't you say brother?"

Latios however, wasn't by her side. Instead, he was standing in front of Stunfisk, looking at a board behind the flounder. He was staring at it with a thoughtful gaze.

"10 pokedollars on the cat with a rock." He said, putting down the money on a table.

"Thank you kindly," Stunfisk said with a smile, "Here's your ticket."

"Why are you making bets?" Latias shouted, "And why does he get to be the bookie?"

"Relax sis, everyone else is doing it." Latios said nonchalantly.

Sure enough, all the other contestants were holding a ticket in their hands discussing amongst one another. Even the interns had tickets.

"If that's the case then…10 pokedollars on the other two!" Latias shouted.

"Umm, can we start already?" Spiritomb asked, sweatdropping while the other three fighters had annoyed expressions on their face.

Latios floated over to a conveniently located gong and held up a gong mallet, "1st match. Persian and Spiritomb vs. Rotom and Lampent. Gong yi tanpai!" He shouted as he hit the gong.

…

"What?" Rotom asked.

"I would assume it means go," Spiritomb said. "Shadow Ball!" He shouted as a large black orb was fired from his body, hitting Lampent.

"Ow! That hurt! Take this, Shadow Ball!" Lampent shouted, firing a similar orb of energy at Spiritomb.

Spiritomb dodged the attack, which hit Persian, who yawned.

"Can you keep it down? I need my beauty sleep!" She shouted.

"Thunderbolt!" "Fire Spin!" Rotom and Lampent shouted simultaneously, firing at Spiritomb.

"Protect." Spiritomb said as a barrier formed around him, blocking the ghost duo's attacks but getting caught in a ring of fire.

"Persian, I could use a little help here!" He shouted.

No reply.

"Stop sleeping and help me out!" Spiritomb shouted with a tick mark.

Still no reply.

"Help me out you tr-" He stopped that Persian was gone from her original position as the flames dispersed. Instead, she was sleeping on the beach. He mentally cursed as he realized that while in the fire ring, the other team had used Psychic to bring Persian out of the ring.

"Shadow Ball!" He heard before getting hit by two Shadow Balls, getting knocked out of the ring.

"And the Lugias take the first round!" Latias shouted happily while her brother had his face on the table.

"There goes my 10 bucks…" he groaned.

"Aww cheer up bro, read the names for the next round as I make some more cash.

"Fine," Latios said as he fished in the boxes, "Next round, we have Magneton and Aron going up against Kingdra and Blitzle. Hoorah. Stunfisk, 10 pokedollars on the Lugias!"

The competitors headed to the platform as everyone else made their bets and Latios headed to the gong.

"2nd Match. Aron and Magneton vs. Kingdra and Blitzle. En Garde. Allez."

"What?" Aron and Blitzle asked at the same time.

"It means go ahead in French." "BZZT. GO AHEAD IN FRENCH. BZZT." Kingdra and Magneton said simultaneously. They looked at each other before shouted out attacks.

"Hydro Pump!" "BZZT. THUNDERBOLT CHARGE COMPLETE. FIRING. BZZT."

While the Hydrop Pump attack connected, the Thunderbolt attack veered off-course and headed toward Blitzle who took it like it was nothing.

"BZZT. ANALYSIS COMPLETE. BLITZLE HAS LIGHTNINGROD ABILITY. TARGET SWITHED. LOCK-ON. MAGNET BOMB. FIRE. BZZT." Magneton beeped as he raised one of his magnets and fired.

However, he didn't just fire a Magnet Bomb. Something was riding on it, Aron.

"Iron Head!" He shouted as he hit Blitzle head-on.

The Electrified Pokemon staggered backward in a daze, before falling off the platform into the water.

"Bubblebeam!" Kingdra shouted, aiming at Aron.

However, Aron dodged left quickly, a little too quickly Kingdra noticed. He looked over and Saw Aron being pulled toward Magneton's magnet.

"Clever, using magnetism for offense and defense." He said to himself.

"BZZT. CHARGE COMPLETE. TARGET LOCKED-ON. ZAP CANNON FIRING. BZZT." Magneton beeped, firing a large bolt of electricity at Kingdra, hitting him square in the chest and sending him flying.

"Hmm, maybe I should have read that 'Working Out For Dummies' book after all." Kingdra said to himself before landing in the water.

"And the Ho-Ohs take round 2!" Latias shouted in the microphone as the team cheered. "Guess these bets weren't such a bad idea."

"Speak for yourself," Latios said gloomily, "I've already lost 20 bucks."

**000**

"**He thinks he has it bad?" Sawk asked, "I've already lost 50!"**

**000**

"Grah ha ha ha ha!" Someone shouted.

Everyone turned towards it source. When they saw who it was, some froze.

Cryogonal had just arrived.

"Well well well, if it isn't my old team, seems like you finally need me for once. Wished you hadn't kicked me off now huh?" Cryogonal taunted. "Man do I need a workout, those guys back at the resort are no fun at all!"

"Wait, you were at a resort?" Feebas asked.

"Oh yeah, when I got eliminated, Latias gave me a map to a nearby resort on another island. We get to watch you guys go through the torture that's known as the show Much better stuff there than here too, there's A/C, an open bar, pool, all you can eat buffet, bowling alley, spa-"

"What the hell Latias! Why do they get the nice stuff and we don't?" Zangoose shouted.

"Perks of being a loser I guess." Espeon commented.

"Anyway, since Cryogonal is here, let's move on to our next match, Roserade and Lucario vs Cryogonal and Cloyster!" Latias said, "10 pokedollars on the Lugias for me and my brother wants 10 pokedollars on the other team."

As the team took their positions Kingdra went over to Bisharp.

"How's our fearless leader holding up? He asked.

"Better, though not much. The buzzing in my head has gone down, but thanks to the gong, now it's been placed by loud ringing noise."

Kingdra nodded and looked at the platform, "You think they can take those two?"

"They'll be fine." Bisharp said, "I feel that this will be one of the more exciting matches today."

Latios struck the gong and the battle began.

"Sunny Day!" Roserade shouted, lifting her hands into the sky.

"Bad idea girlie!" Cryogonal shouted, "Solarbeam!"

"Kah kah kah! Icicle Spear!" Cloyster shouted at the same time.

The two attacks collided onto the other team, creating a large cloud of smoke.

"Whoa is this it? The finishing blow?" Latios shouted, eyes focused on the platform.

"Since when have you been an announcer?" Latios sarcastically commented.

"Since now. Now SHUSH!"

The as the dust cleared the two Lugias emerged unharmed.

"Protect and Detect huh?" Cryogonal observed, "Not bad, but you can't dodge us forever! Solarbeam!"

"Whee he he, Shell Smash!" Cloyster shouted. As the top layer of his shell broke off, he shouted, "Icicle Spear!"

"Double Team!" The Lucario shouted as his copies surrounded Cloyster and Cryogonal, blocking Roserade from view.

The Ho-Ohs temporarily stopped their attack. "Wha? Which one is the real one?"

"This is harder than finding a cheese wheel on the moon!" Cloyster shouted while laughing.

"…huh?"

**000**

**Cryogonal had a perplexed look on his face "What was that…I don't even…where did that come from?"**

**000**

"Extremespeed!" One of the Lucario clones shouted, hitting Cloyster in the back.

"Weather Ball!" Roserade shouted, hitting Cryogonal in the face.

"Close Combat!" Lucario shouted as he jumped toward Cryogonal, hitting him repeatedly.

"Petal Dance" Roserade shouted as flower petals stuck Cloyster over and over.

The last two attacks sent the ice duo over the edge of the platform, landing them in the water.

"And with an aggressive rush, the Lugias take their second round!" Latias shouted as the Lugias cheered.

**000**

**Cryogonal was angry, "They got lucky you hear me? If I wasn't distracted by Cloyster I would have destroyed the both of them! The next time I see them I'll destroy them myself! I'll send them to-"**

**Latias teleported into the confessional, "Alright you're done here, good bye." She snapped her fingers, teleporting Cryogonal away.**

**000**

"Nice job you two." Espeon commented as Lucario and Roserade came back on shore.

"It was nothing really." Roserade responded, her body leaning on Lucario's arm.

"Well you two did a fine job anyway," Kingdra commented, "One more win and we win the challenge."

"Yeah, we can finally break our losing streak!" Shouted Spinarak joyfully.

"That's right," Blitzle said, nodding, "Hey they're gonna announce the next battle. Hurry, to Stunfisk!"

Everyone left except for Lucario and Roserade, who was still clinging onto the calm fighter. An awkward silence passed between them.

"Could you please remove yourself from my arm?"

"Oh yeah, sure…"

**000**

"**Well that was a different reaction than I had originally expected," Roserade commented, fiddling with her bouquets, "Now I'm just hoping that he can actually respond to my advances."**

**000**

"Alright, let's get the next battle underway!" Latias shouted, "We have, Bisharp and Joltik against Zangoose and Altaria!"

"20 bucks on Bishap and Joltik!" Yelled Latios.

"Why are you so fired up all of a sudden?" Latias asked.

"I have a good feeling, unlike those last three matches." He admitted smugly.

"Uh-huh. Right. Just go ring the gong."

Latios grumbled as he went towards the gong and smacked as the four campers readied their stances.

"Fly!" Altaria shouted, as she took to the air with Zangoose on her back.

"Fling!" Bisharp shouted as he made a throwing motion towards the two airborne Pokemon.

"Ha! What are you throwing? You're not holding an item!" Zangoose taunted.

Bisharp smirked, "Guess again."

"Wild Charge!" Joltik shouted as he was shot towards Altaria.

Zangoose leaped off of Altaria just as Joltik reached the flying Pokemon.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhh!" She cried as she fell out of the air and into the water, as Joltik used String Shot to get back on the platform and latched onto Bisharp's arm.

"Metal Claw!" Zangoose shouted as she charged toward Bisharp.

"Metal Claw." Bisharp said as he held a defensive posture.

Both their claws clashed as metallic sounds rang out as both Pokemon struck and parried each other's blows. Everyone else was watching intently, though Aron was salivating as he continued to listen.

Bisharp couldn't hear anything though. Not metallic clangs his and Zangoose's claws made, not the ringing in his head, nor the buzzing from before. It was as if he was deaf. His movements seemed to slow down, Zangoose's movements were slowing down, everyone seemed to be slowing down.

Bisharp couldn't make heads or tails out of this. This kind of phenomenon was not possible, yet it was happening.

"Do it." A voice echoed

"What? Who are you?" He thought, as if the voice could hear his thoughts.

"Do it, release your inner darkness, let it embrace you. You've only used part of the power that you're capable of. Let me help you use it all and make you stronger."

"Who or what are you?"

"I am part of you, just made stronger. Let me show you what both of us together can do."

Suddenly, Zangoose's claw struck a blow right in Bisharp's stomach, causing him to slide backwards and become hunched over, his arms hanging limp.

Zangoose stopped to catch her breath and stood her ground, watching her opponent.

"Heh heh heh…" Bisharp laughed as his body slightly twitched.

"Hm?" Zangoose noticed the irregularity

"Heh heh heh heh heh…" he laughed, slightly louder

"What the…"

"What's wrong with Bisharp?"

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha…" he continued to laugh loudly.

"Um, are you okay there Bisharp?" Joltik asked in a slightly scared voice from Bisharp's back.

Bisharp's laughing continued to grow louder and louder until he finally stopped.

Slowly he leaned backwards, his back arched, his eyes closed and arms still dangling. He took a step, then leaned forward again and stopped moving.

There was a long silence, everything was quiet.

Bisharp opened his eyes with a crazed look and smiled devilishly.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!" He screeched as everyone covered their ears.

"What the he-oompf!" Zangoose was cut off as Bisharp punched her with unremarkable speed, sending her tumbling.

Everyone watching was silent, whether by fear or by surprise, they watched with eyes wide open, their breaths silent. Only Latios was cheering, albeit silently.

They watched Bisharp land blow after blow, Zangoose unable to do anything to counter the strikes.

"Waaaaaaaaaaa! Bisharp, what's going on? Slow down a little!" Wailed Joltik as he clung on Bisharp for his dear little life.

"Just hang on!" Shouted Spinarak. "Everything will be fine!"

"I'm gonna pee myself!"

"Did not need to know that!" Shouted Lampent.

Bisharp suddenly punched Zangoose in the side so hard it sent her sprawling. Bisharp slowly walked over looking down at his opponent. He raised a bladed arm in the air, and aimed it Zangoose's neck.

"He's gonna use Guillotine!" Gardevoir gasped in horror.

"Quick, someone stop him!" Latias shouted, "We don't want any lawsuits on our hands!"

"Ummmm, uhhhh, hmmmm…," Kingdra muttered. "Aha! I got it!"

He turned toward the platform, "Joltik! Use Discharge on Bisharp!"

"What? Are you crazy? Then we might lose!" Stunfisk shouted, "Then again, it's not my problem since I'm safe tonight."

"You see any other alternative?" Kingdra retorted back. He was met with silence. "Didn't think so."

"We could just ignore it."

"Stunfisk!"

"Jeez I'm sorry, I was kidding okay? Can you please release your psychic powers now?"

Espeon released the flounder onto the ground who landed with a dull thud.

"Ugh, next time can you make it a softer landing?" He said as he rubbed his head.

"Maybe."

"Anyways, Joltik, just shock Bisharp already!" Roserade shouted.

"Are you sure?" The tiny Pokemon asked back.

Bisharp decided then to swing his arm downward.

"Just do it!"

"Okay! Discharge!"

Electricity surrounded Joltik and Bisharp as Bisharp let out a beast-like roar, halting the Pokemon's movement.

Once the electricity stopped, Bisharp stumbled around a little bit, and unfortunately off the edge, along with Joltik who was still latched onto Bisharp's back.

The two hit the water with a splash, as Zangoose was rushed to the infirmary tent.

**000**

**Gardevoir looked scared, "I tried to read his emotions while Bisharp was going crazy." She shook her head. "It was so dark and scary and also, extremely evil, like he was possessed or something."**

**000**

**Zangoose was bandaged up and only some cuts and bruises were showing, "What the hell, that jerk! He nearly killed me back there! Ohhhh, when I get to he's gonna wish he killed me!"**

**000**

**Bisharp was clutching his head in pain, "Ugh, what happened? One minute I'm fighting on even ground with Zangoose, and the next thing I know, I'm falling from the platform with Joltik on my back." He sighed. "This day keeps getting worse and worse."**

**000**

"Well, THAT was unexpected." Latias said one everyone found that Zangoose's condition was stable and Bisharp put into the infirmary tent after getting knocked out, "But, even so, we must continue. So Gardevoir and Zoroark, both of you will be up against Sawk and Absol. Latios you want to make another bet?"

The other Eon Pokemon just groaned in return as Latias floated over to Stunfisk's little stall, while the two teams climbed the ladder to the platform.

Latios just mumbled groggily as he went over to the gong and tapped it, signaling the battle's start.

Gardevoir immediately used Light Screen and Reflect as Absol charged up a Razor Wind and Sawk used Bulk Up. Zoroark on the other hand, did nothing and just stared at the ground.

Absol fired off his Razor Wind toward Gardevoir, whose Light Screen protected her from some of the attack. Meanwhile Sawk ran towards Zoroark.

"Toxic!" He shouted, forming a purple sludge in his hands.

"Wait, how does he know Toxic? That's a poison type move!" Lampent asked.

"I've heard of discs that could give a Pokemon attacks that it can't normally learn leveling up." Kingdra mused. "Sawk must have found one of those and was able to learn the move."

"Oh that makes sense. ANDZOROARK, GETOUTOFTHEWAYORYOU'LLBEPOISONED!" Lampent shouted.

Zoroark jerked his head up just in time to see the purple liquid get launched at him. He jerked his arms forward and blocked his face as the liquid hit him.

"Quick, get a stretcher ready for Zoroark, he's gonna need a lot of antidotes and Pecha berries after this." Latias commanded.

"Hold on a sec sis¸ look…" Latios pointed towards the platform.

Zoroark stood there, his arms still crossed over his face, seemingly unaffected by the poison.

"Eh?" Sawk asked looking surprised.

"Eh?" Latias said stunned.

"Eh?" Gardevoir and Absol said at the same time, looking at each other.

"Friday night Mankey Waffles!" Cloyster cackled.

"EHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH?" Everyone shouted instantly.

"And in a mysterious turn of events, Zoroark is UNAFFECTED by a point-blank range Toxic attack! What is this madness?" Latios announced.

Everyone soon began discussing amongst one another, wondering how Zoroark was immune to the deadly poison.

During this confusion, Gardevoir approached Zoroark and grabbed his shoulder

"What's going on? How are you still standing like this?" She asked.

Zoroark however brushed her hand away and whispered. "Just forfeit now. Save your energy. Don't come looking for me." And jumped off the edge.

When everyone looked back, they noticed that the Lugias were suddenly down a member and Gardevoir was climbing down.

"We forfeit the match." she said quietly, receiving glares from her teammates as she walked over to her team.

"What was that? You and Zoroark could have totally kicked their butts to the next generation!" Roserade scolded her friend.

"And speaking of which, where's Zoroark?" Rotom asked looking around.

"Disappeared again I'm afraid." Gardevoir answered solemnly.

"That guy sure hasn't been much of a team player recently." Lampent commented.

"That's not true…" Gardevoir muttered under her breath.

"Hm, you say something?"

"No, it's nothing…"

**000**

"**This isn't good, Zoroark's going to get eliminated really soon at this rate." Gardevoir said worriedly. "I'm trying to help prolong his stay, but time's running out. And worse of all, he doesn't seem to care…"**

**000**

**Zoroark looked down at the ground, "No one understands…" He whispered. "And none of them will…"**

**000**

Latias clapped her hands to get everyone's attention, "Okay then, shall we move on to our, hopefully, final round. Spinarak and Espeon are up against Feebas and Serperior!"

Upon reaching the platform, the teams consulted with eachother.

"Let's aim for Serperior, he's the bigger threat, Feebas will be easy to beat." Spinarak said, Espeon nodded in response

"They'll probably aim for you, so stay out of their sight," said Serperior, "Hide behind me, and if they get close to the edge, use Tackle on them, alright?" Feebas nodded.

The sound of the gong being whacked by a depressed Latios was heard and the fighters took their stances.

"Leaf Tornado!" Serperior immediately shouted, hitting Espeon on the side, knocking the cat-like Pokemon back.

"Pin Missile!" Spinarak shouted as thousands of small needles were launched at Serperior and Feebas. They were able to dodge some of the needles but got hit mostly.

"Swift!" Espeon said, as stars shot towards the two Ho-ohs, hitting them and pushing them towards the edge.

"Vine Whip!" shouted Serperior as two long tendrils shot out, grabbing Espeon and bringing her towards him. His eyes flashed as he used Glare on the Psychic type and once she was close enough, he coiled around her body and used Wrap.

Suddenly, Espeon's eyes turned blue as she whispered, "Psychic" and almost magically, Serperior's body began unwrapping itself from Espeon as he was lifted up into the air, and sent flying over the edge.

**000**

**Spiritomb wore a monocle and a fake mustache and was holding up a cup of tea with psychic energy.**

"**And that is why, ladies and gents, we never put too much trust in somebody." He said as sipped the tea and then put the monocle mustache away.**

**000**

Absol watched as his teammate was thrown off the platform screaming and landed in the water. "Well, we're screwed." He said in a deadpan voice as the other team began to cheer. Altaria smacked him upside the head with her wing, which really didn't do much.

"How could you say that? Feebas is still there!" She chided.

"Sadly, I agree with him." Spiritomb said with a sigh, "Feebas can't really do anything unless given a Technical Machine, unlike fail fighter over there; he's pretty bad, even with a TM."

"Hey, at least I know a TM move!"

"Except that Zoroark was unaffected by it."

"But I won my match!"

"Because they forfeited."

"At least it lasted longer than two minutes!"

"You spent over half that time charging attacks."

"…at least we still won!"

"You already used that argument."

"I couldn't think of any other ones!"

**000**

**Sawk looked annoyed, "Sometimes, Spiritomb can be a jerk. I mean has good reason to be, seeing as how he's probably the smartest person here and is a good leader, but he could stand to be a **_**little**_** bit nicer, right?"**

**000**

"**I am not nice." Spiritomb said aggressively, "I only act nice to gain everyone's trust. I am condescending, aggressive, cocky, and finally, mean. No two ways around it."**

**000**

All of a sudden, they heard a splash and looked over to see Espeon in the water and Feebas bouncing around happily.

There was dead silence.

"Uh, can someone explain what just happened here?" Rotom said, pointing an arm towards the water.

Latias pulled a projector screen down while Latios set up a small projector. Soon, an image was displayed.

"If you see here," Latias said, pointing at the screen, "Espeon was very close to the edge when she threw Serperior off the edge." Latios circling Espeon at that moment. "Feebas then took the opportunity and used Tackle to ram Espeon into the water." Latios then circled Feebas and drew a small arrow which pointed towards Espeon, which he drew an X on, then drew another arrow pointing toward the water.

"And if you all look to your left, Feebas is now glowing!" Latias added, causing everyone to jerk their heads in said direction.

Sure enough, Feebas was shining brightly, as her body slowly began to transform. Whe the light dissipated, everyone had dropped their jaws. Feebas had evolved into a Milotic, and a stunning one at that. Instead of looking like a dull fish, she now had a serpentine body. Her dull brown skin had turned into a cream color, her tail a mosaic of blue and red, and two long red eyebrows and hair like fins.

After a long silence, Rotom was the first to speak, "Dude…she hot."

"Totally." said Blitzle, nodding in agreement.

This earned both of them smacks on the back of their heads by Lampent.

"I'm right here you know!" Directing the comment at Rotom, "And you," she said looking at Blitzle, "don't you have a girlfriend already?"

"Ow sorry, we just couldn't help it alright?" Rotom said, rubbing the back of his head.

Lampent rolled her eyes, "Men." She muttered under her breath.

"You say something?"

"Nope!"

**000**

"**Rotom…is a nice guy." Lampent said thoughtfully, "But sometimes, he can get carried away, especially when he's with Blitzle. Then, he just becomes 'one of the guys'."**

**000**

Feebas looked at herself in awe. Never did she think would evolve into something like this. She spun around a little bit, admiring herself. Unfortunately, her tail ended hitting an admiring Spinarak, sending her flying.

The spider had barely enough time to register what happened seconds before she hit the water, causing the Ho-ohs to cheer.

"And the score is all tied up now thanks to Fee-Milotic!" Latias announced, "That means we'll be going into sudden death! Each team, pick one of your winning duos to fight!"

As the teams deliberated Latias went over to Latios who leaning on a tree seemingly lifeless.

"Hey bro, don't feel bad, you've only lost some money, it doesn't really matter too much." She reassured him.

"Easy for you to say when you haven't even lost a single dollar…" Latios muttered.

"Well, I can't help it that I make good bets. Besides, there's still one round left."

"Hah…put 100 pokedollars on the Ho-ohs, I don't even care anymore…"

Latias floated over to Stunfisk to make Latios's bet and her bet on the Lugias as the teams finalized their decisions. It was going to be Lucario and Roserade for the Lugias and Serperior and Milotic for the Ho-ohs. The two teams got on the platform as Latias brought out a stereo and Latios's iTouch, placing it in the stereo.

"And now, for our final match, we will have epic music accompaniment! Latios, what playlist is that song on?"

"First one." He answered in a grumble. Latias pressed the play button and waited for the music to begin as she set it on the highest volume.

_Nya nya nya nya nya nya nya nya nya~..._

"Ack! Turn it off!" shouted Latias as she covered her ears. Latios pressed the pause button to stop the track.

"Why was Nyan Cat playing instead of the song we prepared?" Latias asked angrily.

"I don't know, someone must have messed with my playlists!" Latios shouted back.

"Well your itouch was in the same place you left so who could have messed with the playlists?

Rotom and Lampent hi-fived each other behind their backs

**000**

**Rotom was chuckling in the confessional, "Like I said before, I take over electrical appliances. Messing with the playlists on an iTouch? Child's play.  
><strong>

**000  
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Once the siblings stopped arguing, the real song was found and they played it, Show No Tears by NemisisTheory, and the fight began.

Milotic started off with a Hydro Pump, pushing their opponents back while Serperior got closer to their opponents. Serperior then used Dragon Tail pushing the two back further. Little did he know that Roserade had planted Toxic Spikes where the Lugias had originally stood, thus getting Serperior poisoned.

Lucario then rushed in with a Bullet Punch hitting Serperior, which then turned into Close Combat, then Finally pushed Serperior back with an Aura Sphere.

As soon as Serperior recovered, he launched a Leaf Tornado at his opponents and at the same time, Milotic used Icy Wind, causing the leaves to freeze and thus, Lucaio and Roserade were pelted with a frozen leaf tornado.

Roserade decided to counter with a Petal Dance, which allowed Lucario to use Extremespeed and try to attack Milotic, not before she shrouded herself and Serperior using Mist. Lucario stopped and tried to read his surroundings but was caught by Seerperior who used Wring Out. However, he stopped for a moment as he was captivated by Roserade's Sweet Scent, allowing Lucario to break free and use Sky Uppercut on Serperior and Hi Jump Kick on Milotic. They then retaliated using Slam and Water Pulse, knocking Lucario into Roserade. As they two got up, they saw Milotic use Hydro Pump, knocking them back and over the edge.

First there was silence, then the Ho-ohs and Latios erupted in cheers, Latios especially, while the Lugias slumped and looked depressed while Latias jaw just hung slack. Up on the platform, the winners were having a small celebration of their own.

"We did it! I can't believe it!" Milotic shouted excitedly, her body rubbing against Serperior's.

"U-uh yeah, g-great!" Serperior responded awkwardly.

"Hm? Is there something wrong?" Miloti asked, noticing the verbal stutter.

"N-nope! Nothing at all!" Serperior shouted instantly.

**000**

"**Fee-I mean Milotic was a really great help out there," Serperior said, "I don't think I could have won without her. Plus she has a good personality, strong, pretty-" He stopped as a slight blush appeared on his face, then slapped his tail on his forehead, "It's the poison, yeah, definitely the poison that's making me think like this." He muttered.**

**000**

"Congrats Ho-ohs, you are safe from elimination tonight." Latios spoke happily into the mic, "Lugias, you're going into elimination again but since Stunfisk is immune, you can't vote for him. See you all tonight!" and Latios teleported away, leaving a shell-shocked Latias still sitting at the table.

**000**

"Where's Bisharp?" Roserade asked as she and her fellow war council members reached their meeting spot.

"Dunno." Gardevoir responded, "Though I did hear something about asprin and Persim berries."

"So he's suffering from confusion now too? That's not good." Kingdra remarked.

"Either way, we need to discuss who we're going to vote out." Lucario mentioned gruffly.

"However," Kingdra interjected, "there is something we've been neglecting for a while."

"What's that?" Roserade asked.

"The new queen of the other team, and the rest of the pieces of the chessboard."

Everyone nodded, they already knew that for their team, Bisharp was the king, Kingdra and Roserade as bishops, Zoroark and Gardevoir as knights, Lucario and Espeopn as rooks. For the other team, they had Spiritomb as king, Cryogonal was the queen, and Cloyster as a bishop, Zangoose as a knight, and Serperior as a rook, and Absol as their wild card.

"I believe after watching what happened today, it seems that there has been a pawn that has become the new queen, and I'm pretty sure you all know who it is." Everyone present nodded. "Now this begs the question, who is our queen, and who might become our next queen if ours is gone."

"Well, the queen is the strongest piece in chess, so it would make sense that the strongest player on our team would be the queen, the king is just the most important." Gardevoir reasoned.

"Yes, and unfortunately I think we may have eliminated our queen already." Kingdra said somberly, as the others nodded in agreement.

"So now we have to find out who our possible replacement on our team is." Roserade said. "Any ideas?"

"To me, the only possible queens are those who still can evolve." Lucario reasoned. "Which leaves us with Blitzle, Lampent, Joltik and Spinarak."

"Blitzle seems a bit too laid-back, and Joltik is well, tiny and child-like." Gardevoir said, "So that leaves Lampent and Spinarak."

"Spinarak hasn't shown any real strength, yet Lampent has proven herself to be a worthy competitor, plus, she helps keep Rotom and Blitzle in check." Roserade mentioned.

Kingdra nodded, "Aye, makes sense. Now what about the other team? This challenge must have helped us understand the other team better in some way."

"Altaria is the other rook, no question." Lucario mentioned.

"Sawk is probably the other knight of the team, though he could definitely use some tuning." Gardevoir commented.

**000**

Suddenly Sawk sneezed. Altaria looked at him.

"You catch a cold?" She asked.

"No…"

**000**

"The other bishop is probably Magneton." Roserade said, "He's pretty smart and tactical, so I don't see why he isn't in that position."

Kingdra nodded, "Very well. So back to the main problem, who are we going to eliminate? I heard that many of our team members are voting Zoroark tonight."

Gardevoir jerked slightly at the announcement, though it went unnoticed by the rest of her team.

"I suggest we vote out someone who hasn't been doing well overall these past couple challenges. Obviously we don't want to eliminate Espeon and Lampent who are still important and since Stunfisk is immune, we'll have to pick someone else."

"How about Joltik? His small size is definitely disadvantageous to us." Roserade suggested.

Lucario nodded, "Good idea, but we're still short in numbers. We just need one more team member to vote with us and Zoroark should be safe."

Roserade stood up, "I'll go and try to convince Espeon. I'm good friends with her, she's bound to listen."

"Alright then." Kingdra said, "Me and Lucario will go talk to Bisharp about our plan and our discoveries."

The three then left with Gardevoir left to pursue her own devices, and she knew exactly what she was going to do.

**000**

Meanwhile Milotic and Serperior were relaxing by the docks, viewing the sunset.

"So why did you call me out here for?" Serperior asked.

"I just wanted to relax with someone." Milotic answered matter-of-factly.

"Could you have asked someone else?"

"Well most of the guys are ogling my new body and most of the girls are trying to prevent them from doing so."

"So I'm the only exception? Why?"

"I dunno, you were always the first one to help me out while I was a Feebas, and you seem quite strong, even though you don't use all of your power."

Serperior's jaw dropped, "H-how did you figure that out?"

"Well, you and the rest of your evolutionary line are known to be proud species and Serperior don't go all out unless it's a really strong opponent." Milotic said as she chuckled.

"…who are you and what have you done with Feebas? Cause to be honest, you're kinda scaring me."

"Aww," Milotic pouted, "you're so mean! Come on it really is me, I've just changed a little, that's all."

"More like a lot." Serperior mumbled, "Okay I'm sorry, I'm just not used to your change in demeanor, it's like you have a completely different personality."

"I guess it's because of the evolution and my new body. I'm more confident because of it I guess." Milotic stated, then stared back out towards the water, "Wow, the sunset is beautiful…"

"Much like you…" Serperior said under his brath.

"Hm? What was that?"

"N-nothing!"

**000**

"…"**Serperior was silent for a moment, "…I still blame the poison for that little slip of the tongue."**

**000**

Zoroark was, once again, sitting on the edge of the cliff, contemplating the day's events.

His poison immunity was now found out, all thanks to that stupid Toxic attack. He didn't want anyone to find about that, that would just raise more questions. Maybe he shouldn't have forfeited the match though, maybe his team would have won. Now he was definitely on the chopping block again, and was probably going to be eliminated. Not that he really cared, accursed island was wasting his time, he needed to leave, and soon, tonight would be his ticket out.

He heard some rustling behind him. He turned around to see Gardevoir emerging from the trees.

"I thought I told you not to come looking for me." He grumbled.

"Really? I thought that was a suggestion, not a command." She said, sitting down next to him, "What happened today that's gotten you so upset?"

"I don't want to talk about it." He murmured, burying his head into his arms.

"You know, we're still trying to save you, the war council I mean."

"…mmm."

"You could be a little happier about it you know, getting to stay here for a couple more days."

"But I don't want to!" Zoroark suddenly shouted, causing Starly to fly from the trees.

"I've wanted to get off this stupid island as soon as I got here! I never wanted to come in the first place!" he continued angrily.

"Really?" Gardevoir questioned, her voice suddenly becoming cold, "Cause you seemed pretty happy the first couple weeks."

"What proof do you have of that?" He continued to shout, now seething.

"How about Regirock house building challenge, or maybe that time in the hot tub?" She answered with a stoic expression.

"Rrrrgh, fine! You have a point, but I've been wanting to quit ever since this began!"

"Then why haven't you?"

"I don't know!" He shouted loudly and began to pant heavily, then slumped onto the ground.

"…I need to get back," he said silently, "for his sake…"

"Who's he?" Gardevoir questioned suddenly.

"…my brother…" Zoroark concluded, his head looking down from the cliff.

"You have a brother?" She asked, clearly surprised, "Why didn't you say anything until now?"

"…I didn't want to bring up the topic, and I didn't want to burden anyone with my problems." He said, looking out towards the sea.

"Come one, you can tell me. You're in turmoil, I know it. Just tell me, let it all out. Please, you can trust me."

Zoroark thought about it for a minute, the sighed in defeat, "Alright, I tell you my story but promise me this, you aren't to tell anyone else about this.

"Promise."

"Well brace yourself, it's a long story, trust me…"

Zoroark looked at the sky in memory, "Me and my family, we used to live in Losthorn Forest in the Unova region, just north of Route 16. It was peaceful, the air was clean, and life was good. Me, I was a Zorua at the time. My parents were both Zoroarkk and my brother, he was younger than me and was also a Zorua. We lived in a small trailer, and the nearby Pokemon never disturbed us, so we thought we had nothing to worry about."

His voice suddenly became somber, "We were dead wrong.

"Soon after a group of Trubbish and eventually Garbodor moved into the area, polluting the environment, and making it hard to live. All the Pokemon living nearby tried to negotiate with them but they wouldn't budge. Soon after, Pokemon started getting sick and dying of disease that the Trubbish and Garbodor brought when they migrated here. Their numbers were also multiplying, so the rate that the disease spread became worse and worse.

"My parents, t-they became victims of the disease," His voice started to become shaky, making sure he held his emotions back so he could tell the full story, "Me and my brother then knew, that we had to leave, we couldn't afford to stay and risk death. So we gave our parents a quick burial and left our home.

"For a couple years, me and my brother travelled around Unova trying to find a new place to live. I eventually evolved into a Zoroark though my little brother stayed the same. It was then that we stumbled upon Route 9, and everything took a turn for the worse."

Tears started to form in Zoroark's eyes but he brushed them away, "We were near the Shopping Mall Nine and my brother saw a large group of Garbodor gathered in the back of the mall. In a rage he went to attack them. I tried to stop him but he refused. He ran over and crawled under a metal fence and began attack. I knew he was no match for the Garbodor so I ran over to help. I had to climb the fence in order to get to the other side, and I cut my self a little on my right arm. When I arrived, there were about seven or eight Garbodor about to use Toxic on my brother who was injured pretty badly. I tried to get to him in time but by the time I reached them, they had already hit my brother with the attack, so I scooped him up and ran out of there as fast as I could. Unfortunately, some of the poison splashed onto the cut I had gotten, which stung like hell but I had to resist the constant pain and ran to the nearest Pokemon center in Opelucid City."

His voice was getting strained and sadder as he continued his tragic tale, "He was rushed in, as was I, since my injury was getting worse. The nurses did the best they could, feeding me Pecha berries and trying to patch up the wound. I was more worried about my brother the whole time. By the time I was finished, all that was left was this scar of mine." He said, moving his fur aside to give Gardevoir a better view of the scar.

He removed his hand and continued, "A side effect of the poison entering my blood stream was immunity to getting poisoned or badly poisoned."

"So that's why you were unaffected by the Toxic attack." Gardevoir realized.

Zoroark nodded, "That's right. My brother on the other hand, didn't fare too well." He said as he started to cry again. "He was so badly injured and poisoned that the best nurses at the center couldn't do anything, so he was transferred to a Pokemon hospital in Castelia City. I also went as well, being his only blood relative. Even there, the best doctors couldn't do too much either. They tried their best but could only ease his suffering. Meanwhile, I had a massive hospital bill to pay for so I had to find any job I could get. If I wasn't making enough, I left my job to find another that paid better, of course those are few and far between. At the same time, I was trying hopefully find a cure for my brother, though I had few leads. The moves Aromatherapy and Heal Bell. Unfortunately I couldn't leave Castelia to find any Pokemon that knew one of the two moves and none of the doctors could find a Pokemon that could be hired for free to do the job, so I was stuck earning money to foot the hospital bill and at the same time, earn enough for a specialist."

"So that's why you know so much, working all those different jobs." Gardevoir surmised.

"Correct. It was working my latest job that I found out about the show and the prize money. I knew that this was the opportunity that I needed, it was enough to find an Aromatherapy or Heal Bell user and pay for the rest of my bills." Zoroark continued.

"So you were fine for a long time, why did you become so depressed all of a sudden?" Gardevoir asked.

"Well, the day before I left, the doctors told me that my brother might not have much longer and that I was risking being away when my brother, well, moved on." Zoroark answered, "I tried to shake off the feeling while I was here, but when the fear challenge ended, everything just fell apart for me.

"My greatest fear was my little brother dying, my only relative, and I wasn't there when it happened, I didn't even show up to his funeral."

"But didn't you grab a feather on your way out? That should have erased the nightmare from your mind." Gardevoir reasoned

"I did, but the nightmare brought so many memories and feelings I have held back surfaced as a result, I just felt demotivated afterward and I just wanted to be there for my brother before something bad happened."

"But remember what Cryogonal said when he got back? All the losers stay at a resort, they don't actually go home."

"I'll probably talk to Latias and Latios to allow me to go back to Castelia. We'll see." Zoroark concluded with a sigh.

"But you know, you could still stay and try for the prize, who knows, maybe you'll actually win and be able to pay for your brother's treatment."

"But what if something happens while I'm here? I'd feel so guilty about it that I'd probably just quit the competition altogether." Zoroark said worriedly

"But your brother is strong, he probably knows you're here, fighting for a way to cure him, you just have to trust him, that he has the willpower to continue living." Gardevoir answered

"Besides, you aren't alone in this, you have my full support." She said, resting a hand on Zoroark's shoulder.

"…thanks, but I don't wish to win this game on sympathy, I need to do my best if I'm going to win. So please, just don't tell anyone, it's our little secret."

"Sure thing."

Little did they know, somewhere nearby, someone had heard their whole conversation.

**000**

**Gardevoir was smiling, "I've finally been able to connect with him and see what his problem is, but his story…" She wipes a tear from her eye, "Saddest tale I've ever heard, I can see why he's been so depressed. I've also agreed to give him the prize money if I win, he needs it more than I ever will."**

**000**

"**Thanks to Gardevoir, I have renewed vigor and confidence," Zoroark said, "I might have a chance of winning, and honestly, I'm glad I was finally able to share my pain with someone else, and that they understand what I'm going through. It's not easy, especially with a sob story like mine. Now I just need to survive tonight, though my chances are extremely limited. Also, for those of you watching in TV land, keep quiet about this. Especially those of you that have been eliminated, I know you're watching."**

**000**

"**Oh this is gold." A silhouette cackled, "This is just the leverage I need to get to the top. Maybe after the merge though, but either way, this information will be useful."**

**000**

That night at elimination, things were tense. The war council was able to coerce Espeon into voting Joltik but either way, they were still nervous.

"Lugias, so nice to see you again. "Latios said, Latias's face still the same after the final match had occurred, "What happened? You were kicking butt last time I checked."

"Bad luck." Bisharp answered, arms crossed over his chest.

"Um, why is Latias's face still like that?" Spinarak asked, "I mean, shouldn't have she gotten over her loss by now?"

"Well maybe if she didn't bet all the money she won and then some, she'd fare better, but I digress, only one of you won't get a poffin tonight, and whoever that unlucky loser is, they'll have to leave immediately. The first poffins go to are Roserade Rotom, Lampent, and Gardevoir."

The three caught their poffins and began snacking on them.

"Blitzle, Bisharp, Lucario and Kingdra, you are also safe tonight. Also safe are Espeon, Stunfisk and Spinarak."

Latios looked at the two Pokémon left, "Zoroark, you're here because you have been doing jackshit ever since the fear challenge. Care to tell what's going on?"

"Nothing you need to know." The illusion fox retorted back.

"Joltik, I guess you're here because some members of your team think you're a liability, being so small and clingy."

"It's not like I can help it!" He squeaked, "I'm trying my best here! I'm not clinging on anyone at the moment aren't I?"

"He has a point." Espeon whispered.

"Regardless, one of you barely survived the vote tonight, and that Pokémon is…"

Zoroark was sweating bullets, Joltik was shaking in nervousness.

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

..

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

"…Joltik"

The war council was shocked, Zoroark just sighed in defeat.

"Sorry Zoroark, you've reached the end of your rope, please pack your belongings and say you last words.

The fox just nodded and left, leaving the war council to deliberate among themselves.

**000**

**Zoroark shrugged, "Guess it just wasn't meant to be in the long run, if only I hadn't ignored Gardevoir earlier, maybe I could have avoided all of this. Well, either way it was a good run, but on the bright side I'll be able to see my brother again. Don't worry lil bro, I'm coming! Hopefully Gardevoir wins since she has agreed to give me the prize money, but I wouldn't mind if Roserade, Bisharp, Lucario or Kingdra win either. Well, thanks everyone, and good luck from the guy with a tragic past.**

**000**

Zoroark waved goodbye to his team as he climbed on top of a Wailord. He had already talked with Latios who said he would see what he could do. When his gaze met Gardevoir, he smiled and nodded to her, causing her to slightly blush and nod in return. He then boarded the Wailord and it set off.

As Zoroark disappeared into the distance, the war council turned to look each other. Espeon definitely voted for Joltik as Gardevoir had asked after the elimination. That means there was only one reasonable answer, and they all thought of it in their heads as the glared at one another.

Someone had betrayed the council.

**000**

**A silhouette sat in the confessional, "Yeah, I voted for Zoroark, so? He was becoming useless, so he got the boot, end of story. I don't need useless people on my team.**

**000**

* * *

><p><strong>And once again, finished, with a lot of interesting things happening, which more than makes up for the long wait methinks.<strong>

**I can be cruel can't I? Well, it's the only way to stir up drama on this show, so why not? As for the unknown silhouettes, I'll let you all decide who it or they are, but keep it to yourselves, don't spoil the surprises I might have waiting.**

**And since I've been gone so long , I'll make it up to you all by posting confirmed challenges coming down the road.**

**- One that involves campers attacking each other with sharp objects**

**- One that has campers play a videogame for the longest time possible**

**- A challenge based on a popular team-based online game**

**- A Jeopardy game**

**- Another race, this time with motorcycles and maybe cards**

**- A challenge involving the big city**

**- A race to the landmarks of the island**

**- A tip-off to all of the challenges that have occurred.**

**- A large-scale voting game**

**So yes, that's all I have planned for now, when will they occur, wait and see to find out!**

**Zoroark: Please review and hope that my brother gets better!**

**Next time: Let the games begin! Your favorite campers are now your favorite Olympians! One group adjusts to the change in their team while another addresses the elephant in the room. A falling out among friends occur leading to distrust within the team. A Pokemon starts to brew a dangerous plot which causes another contestant to fall.  
><strong>


	13. Of Alliances and Mountains

**THIS CHAPTER WAS HELL.**

**I WENT THROUGH AT LEAST 20 DIFFERENT DRAFTS OF THIS CHAPTER BEFORE I FOUND SOMETHING I LIKED!**

**Didn't help that real life also got in the way. Enough of my whining, let's just start this…**

* * *

><p>"I really didn't want to do this again." Latios grumbled as he floated on the dock. "Last time on Pokémon Drama Island, the campers participated in Double Battles." He then pulled out a remote and pointed it at a screen. "Main attractions included Lucario and Roserade beating the stuffing out of Cryogonal and Cloyster, Bisharp going Zubatshit insane all of a sudden and almost killing Zangoose, Zoroark being immune to a Toxic attack, Feebas evolving into a Milotic in mid-battle, and the Ho-Ohs wining again after winning a sudden death battle with Milotic and Serperior. After a long depression and avoiding everyone, Zoroark finally opened up to Gardevoir, telling a story about how he participated because his little brother was about to die. Tragic really. That night at elimination, the Lugia's war council thought that Zorark would be saved thanks to their efforts. Joltik, however, got the last poffin, shocking them as a result. What will happen to the council? How will the Ho-ohs get used to Milotic's new body? Why isn't Latias doing the intro? And will I be able to get some revenge this time around? All this may be answered here, on Pokémon. Drama. Island."<p>

**000 **

The Lugia war council members were gathered in their usual clearing. They were gathered in a circle, staring at one another.

Bisharp was crouched on a rock, arms on his legs, his head resting atop his hands. Lucario was resting against a tree, Roserade stood with her arms crossed over her chest, Kingdra was floating in place, and Gardevoir stood awkwardly while rubbing her wrists.

They all knew why Bisharp had called a meeting, and were quiet because of it.

Bisharp finally broke the silence with a long sigh.

"Alright, I'm sure everyone knows why we're he, but I'll just say it anyway. One of us voted for Zoroark last elimination. Now the question is which one of us did it. Obviously, all of us are suspects right now. I would prefer someone fess up but I honestly doubt anyone of us will.

"I would just like to state my innocence, as I was the one who brought Zoroark in to this council and knew he was of great importance. So I have no reason to cote him off."

"But," Roserade interjected, "you could just be saying that in order to throw us off our guard, where in fact you really are the one who casted your vote for Zoroark."

Bisharp turned to Roserade with a harsh glance, "Do you really think I would remove such an important piece this early? Before losing all of our pawns?"

"You did ask us to vote off Magmar, who was our queen." Kingdra reasoned, "And since we lost her we need someone else with the potential to grow, forcing us to keep a few of our pawns."

"You know," Lucario said gruffly, "maybe you're the one who voted Zoroark off. You sure have come up with reasons to vote for him."

"While I may be doing so, I am just speculating on the possibilities," Kingdra hissed back. "What possible motive could I have?"

"Maybe you stuck a deal with someone to destroy our group from the inside out and then get a reward." Lucario answered.

"Now that is just a childish idea and completely absurd. I have proof that I am loyal to the group, you were with me when I joined!"

"Well you could have changed your mind after a while."

"I could say the same to you."

"Settle down you two." Bisharp ordered, "Besides, I noticed Gardevoir hasn't said anything since we started talking."

Gardevoir jerked her head up at the mention of her name, "Whatever it is you are thinking of, I can tell you that I am innocent. I had no reason to vote him off, and in fact, I can definitely say I was probably the person who wanted him to stay on the most."

"And what evidence do you have to prove it?" Bisharp questioned, his eyes narrowing.

"My word."

"That seems like a flimsy reason. Surely you can come up with a better excuse."

"But I don't have an excuse, nor do I feel the need to have one."

"Then how can I trust you?"

"Just do."

"But I am afraid I can not, and I am not sure anyone else does."

"Actually, I do." Roserade said, "Gardevoir is one of my best friends here and I trust her more than anyone else in this area right now."

"Oh yeah, then who do you think is the culprit?" Bisharp asked

"You."

"But I've already claimed my innocence."

"But you could be tricking us. In fact, I trust you the least out of everyone here."

Lucario punched a nearby tree, "This is getting us nowhere, we're just throwing around accusations."

"I agree," Kingdra said, "I say we adjourn and discuss this later when we have calmed ourselves."

"No," Bisharp said standing up, "I have a better idea."

"And that is?" Roserade asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"This war council is hereby disbanded, no more meetings, no more group strategy, no more collective vote, just us on our own."

The members were startled at the announcement, but quickly composed themselves.

"Hmph" Lucario grunted as he left.

"Very well then." Kingdra mumbled as he took his leave.

"Fine." Roserade said as she turned around to leave.

Bisharp silently left the area.

Gardevoir just stood in the clearing, hand clutching her head and letting out a long sigh.

**000**

"**This," Gardevoir said solemnly, "will not be good for our team."**

**000**

"**That was an unexpected development," said a silhouette in the confessional, "however, working solo might prove to be the better option."**

**000**

"They seem to be flocking toward her." Spiritomb said.

"Huh?" Cloyster asked.

"The team seems to be hanging around Milotic a lot." Spiritomb answered.

Cloyster laughed, "They are like Mothims drawn to a bug zapper that shocks them to death. ZZZZAAAAAAAAAPPPPP!"

"I do not like her." Persian said with a snarl. "I want her gone."

"Someone seems jealous." Spiritomb said in a mocking tone.

"Perhaps. But seeing everyone round her just makes me furious. They should be appreciating me."

"Well tough luck, I doubt that anyone on our team will vote for her in the coming future, with their fascination and all." Spritomb said matter-of-factly.

Persian clenched her teeth, but suddenly relaxed as a sadistic smile formed on her lips.

"Oh that is perfectly fine actually. Her elimination can wait. For now, I want to see her squirm." She finished with dark chuckle.

A loud trumpet noise interrupted Persian's thoughts as everyone turned to the source, none other than the host and co-host who was blue in the face.

"Well, it's been a while since we had a challenge," Latias said, "so I thought we should do a modified triathalon!" The campers groaned at the thought of more physical exercise. "Hey it was either this or making you lift weights, take your pick." At this everyone complaining shut up.

"Alright here are the details. You'll start at the base of our snowy mountain, and no, it's not the one you all almost died on. This mountain is different because it has snow. At the base of the mountain there are boxes with coupons. These coupons correspond to different types of gear you can use to help you get up the mountain, some of which require two people to work in tandem."

"Upon receiving your coupon, head into the small shack over there" Latias pointed to a small wooden log house behind her, "where Audino will give you the gear that is on your coupon. You won't know what's inside until you open the boxes. You cannot trade gear with anybody. The gear you can get but aren't limited to snowshoes, cross-country skis, and rock climbing gear."

"When you reach the top of the mountain, you'll find a lodge. In there, there are multiple rooms. In the rooms are various items to get you down the mountain. These include sleds, skis, and snowboards. Once you enter a room you cannot exit. Since items like the sled require more than one of you to be in them, you must wait until the sled is full before departing. The door to the entrance to the room will automatically lock if the no more people can fit in whatever item is behind the door."

"Those of you that fly or levitate, if we see you not in a vehicle or not holding onto your gear, you'll be disqualified. First to the bottom of the mountain wins for the team."

**000**

**Roserade shivered "I hate the cold. Hopefully I don't get stuck with that climbing gear and someone mind-numbingly slow. Good thing Numel is gone in that case."**

**000**

"**I better not freeze while in that snow." Stunfisk said, "I would probably find myself in the frozen fish section of a Pokémart if that happened. And I have the idea of who would do it…"**

**000 **

"Anything you would like to warn us about?" Stunfisk asked in a deadpan voice.

"Multiple obstacles including trees, rock formations, and the occasional exploding Pineco. Yes we brought him back. On the bright side, it is great for ratings!" Latias said smiling, "Plus, watching you get injured is going to be the highlight of my day." She finished, her smile, turning into a devilish grin.

"Go figure." He said with a wave of a fin.

"So, any questions?" Latias asked. Milotic raised her tail.

"What if a sled with carrying multiple members from different teams crosses the line first?" she asked.

"Very good question my dear fanservice queen!" Latias exclaimed, causing some to give her a confused look. "If that is the case, whoever got into the room first wins for their team. Any other questions?" Seeing no hands she clapped, "Great, that means you all won't mind wearing togas during the whole race!"

"WHAT?" Most the campers shouted simultaneously, save Magneton who floated apathetically and Cloyster who was going on about Tangrowths and Lopunnys, which no one paid any attention to.

"You never said anything about wearing togas!" Lampent hissed.

"It's already cold enough up there, are you trying to make us catch hypothermia?" Roserade shouted.

"Well this challenge was going to be Olympic-themed but we then decided against it. However we have a bunch of togas left as a result, so why not use them?" Latias beamed.

"I wear a gi, could I be exempt from the toga?" Sawk asked.

"Nope, you must wear at all times."

"Where'd you guys get the togas anyway?" Espeon asked.

Latias was silent for a moment as she stared blankly at the campers.

"Some of you will notice that you won't have bed sheets tonight by the way, just a heads up." She said with the same blank stare on her face.

"What the heck is that supposed to mean?!" a majority of the campers shouted.

**000**

**Spiritomb held the toga up with his psychic powers, staring at it. "…how am I supposed to put this on?"**

**000**

**Persian was looking at herself in the toga, "Ugh, these are so tacky, this color does not go with my fur, and what is this burn mark right here?"**

**000**

**Blitzle was standing in the confessional wearing his toga, he shifted around, looking slightly uncomfortable. He tugged on the toga with his mouth, which caused him to slip and fall onto the floor of the confessional.**

**000**

**Rotom was looking at his toga when he noticed something, "Hey, this was made from my bed sheets! This burn mark was from that night me and Lampent decided to-" He stopped himself, his face turning red. "CUT! CUT!"**

**000**

**Magneton put on the toga, hooking it onto one of his magnets, however one of his eyes was blocked off by the cloth garment. "BZZT. ERROR! ERROR!" he blared, "UNKNOWN OBJECT IS BLOCKING VISUAL SENSORS. VISIBILITY REDUCED. ERROR! ERROR! BZZT." He waved his magnets wildly, flying around the confessional in a frenzy, until he rammed into the wall causing a huge dent.**

**000**

"Looks like there weren't many wardrobe malfunctions here." Latias commented with the toga-wearing contestants in front of her. Most were shifting around or tugging at the fabric draped on them.

"This does not seem like the most effective article of clothing to combat cold weather." Kingdra mentioned as he tugged on his toga.

"We know." Latias chirped back.

"Then w-why are you m-making us wear t-them?" Sawk said through his chattering teeth.

"Cause it's funny and makes for good TV. Now then on your marks…"

Several campers got into starting position. Others were too busy shivering to even move.

"Get set..."

Many of the campers began crouching, as if they were about to pounce. Those still affected by the cold only bent their knees slightly.

"ONE MORE THING!" Latios shouted in an old Asian accent, causing almost everyone to fall over.

"WHAT COULD BE SO IMPORTANT THAT YOU HAD TO INTERRUPT US RIGHT BEFORE WE BEGAN?" Zangoose shouted angrily. Latios smiled.

"Go."

Everyone scrambled to their feet, heading to one of the boxes, tearing them open.

Sawk, Altaria, Lucario, Gardevoir, Zangoose and Espeon found snowshoe coupons in the boxes, while Spinarak, Lampent, Magneton, Kingdra, Rotom, Stunfisk, Aron, and Blitzle all received cross-country ski coupons. Roserade, Milotic, Bisharp, Spiritomb, Cloyster and Serperior all received rock climbing gear coupons. Finally Joltik, Persian, and Absol each got a cable car coupon. The three just stared at what they had received, looking at one another in disbelief.

**000**

"**Seriously? We all have trudge through snow and rock, while they get a comfy ride up to the top of the mountain?" Zangoose asked with an incredulous look on her face. "I would rather have that than these crummy snowshoes!" She said, lifting up one of her feet, accidentally kicking the camera.**

**000**

**Persian smiled evily, "Well this certainly worked out in my favor."**

**000**

The campers filed into the shack one-by one as Audino gave all of them their necessary equipment. When the rock climbers got their gear, they were given instructions that the person they would be climbing with had a matching symbol on their harness.

Roserade looked around at everyone changing into their gear to find who had the Regice symbol on their Harness. She noticed that Serperior had already partnered with Milotic due to their matching Regirock symbols, while Spiritomb was helping Cloyster put on his Registeel symbol harness. Putting two and two together, Roserade realized who she would be partnering with. She turned around only to be faced with the camper with the same Regice symbol on their harness.

"You have got to be kidding me." Roserade and Bisharp deadpanned.

**000**

**Roserade slumped back in the seat of the confessional, "FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-"**

**000**

**Bisharp kept banging his head on the wall of the confessional, "Why. Did. I. Have. To. End. Up. With. HER?!" On the final word, he slammed his head the wall so hard that a slicing sound was heard. He tried to lift his head back up, but found that blade on his head had gotten stuck in the wall. He tried pushing himself out, but met with no success. **

"**Dammit."**

**000**

Meanwhile Absol, Persian and Joltik were puzzling over what they had in front of them: a set of brightly colored wires, a car battery, a key, and a shovel.

"You boys have any idea what were supposed to do with this?" Persian asked. The two others shook their heads.

"Let's just take them with us." Joltik chirped from Absol's head, "They'll probably come in handy some way."

"You better be right about that." Absol grumbled as they got their items and walked in the direction of the cable car lift, a sign pointing their way.

Upon reaching the lift, they found a single worn-down cable car underneath a pile of snow. In front of a pile was a sign that said, "Cable car temporarily out of service. Requires a lot of power and trapped under snow. Will be fixed in 5 days 1 week unknown."

The trio looked at the items they were given and looked at the sign and groaned.

**000**

"**What?" Latias asked "It's hard to get good help for cheap these days! Might as well let the campers do it to save money!"**

**000**

"**For the record, Latias was the one who broke the cable car lift." Latios said quickly, "It was her idea to do cable car jousting, not mine!"**

"**BOUFALLANT SHIT!" A voice shouted from outside.**

**000**

As the trio started to shovel, most of the other campers had started their ascent up the mountain. Those wearing snowshoes were making good time, though Sawk occasionally tripped and fell face first. Those wearing cross country skis were having a more difficult time due to the nature of the skis and that if they stopped to rest, they would go slightly downhill. The only making good time was Lampent who trudged along smoothly.

**000**

"**I had a little experience with cross-country before." Lampent explained. "It's what happens when your parents' idea of a winter vacation is to go to the mountains nearby."**

**000**

Meanwhile, most of the rock climbers were doing alright. Both Spiritomb and Cloyster were bouncing up rocks like nobody's business and Serperior and Milotic were helping one another up the mountain. Bisharp and Roserade however, were way behind.

"Can you hurry up?" Bisharp shouted. "We are way behind everyone else and I do not want to all the work here!"  
>"Well I would except I can't get a good grip because I have bouquets for hands!" Roserade retorted back.<p>

"Well use some vines or something!"

"I can't learn Vine Whip or Power Whip you idiot!"

"Then use Grass Knot to create some handles or something!"

"Do you see any grass around here or are you really that blind?"

"Tch, you are so useless you know that?"

"Don't make me come up there!"

"HAH! I'd like to see you try!"

**000**

"Wow, those two really don't like each other." Serperior commented. "They seemed so friendly before."

"Glad we don't have that problem do we?" Milotic playfully commented.

Serperior blushed, "Err…yeah." The two suddenly heard louder shouts coming from below. "Wow, they certainly have a colorful vocabulary."

The two continued to listen, their eyes growing larger every passing second.

"Um, well, that was interesting." Serperior commented.

"I think their hot air is starting to melt the snow nearby." Milotic observed.

**000**

"**Those two started with general insults," Serperior said, "then it became a battle of sarcasm…"**

**000**

"…**then name-calling and finally just profanity." Milotic finished. "I don't think I've ever heard so many swear words in a single sentence."**

**000**

Zangoose was the first to reach the top of the mountain.

"Finally!" she said as she dashed into lodge and picked a room. Waiting for her was a two person sled. She groaned, her lead was essentially useless at this point. She could only hope that someone else would enter the room soon.

Spiritomb and Cloyster were next to arrive, shortly followed by Lucario, Lampent and surprisingly Blitzle and Stunfisk.

As Spiritomb and Cloyster entered the lodge, Sprirtomb whispered, "You go in a random door first. I will follow you if the door does not lock." Cloyster nodded and proceed to enter a random door. As the door closed, Spiritomb went to check and found that it was locked.

He frowned, "Hmmm, seems like I am flying solo like a Diglet this time." He stopped to pause at the sentence he uttered.

**000**

"**Since when can Diglet fly?" Spiritomb asked himself, "It seems that Cloyster has been really rubbing off on me."**

**000**

Lucario found a snowboard in the room he went to, Lampent went into a room with a pair of skis and Stunfisk found a snowmobile with keys. His eyes bulged out.

"Seriously? This will get me down in no time!" He hopped in, turned on the snowmobile, and zoomed out of the lodge. He quickly sped by Spiritomb on a one-person sled and Cloyster in a giant inflatable ball, both of whom were quite surprised at the vehicle.

"EAT SNOW SUCKERS!" He yelled as he turned around at the two behind him. When he looked back, he screamed as he and the snowmobile were sent flying off a ramp and into the treetops.

**000**

"**And that's why kids, you always look forward while driving." Stunfisk said sagely, a bunch of sticks and pine needles sticking on him."**

**000**

"**My question is how Cloyster got in that giant ball." Lampent pondered. "I'd think he would pop it before he got in. then again, it's Cloyster. Besides, it suits him."**

**000**

Blitzle's room had the most interesting item, a massage chair. He looked at it quizzically and shrugged, deciding to use it to quickly relax with it. He found however that it couldn't turn on. Then he noticed the small print by the on button

"Requires two Pokémon to use."

He sighed and decided to run around the room and wait for someone to arrive.

**000**

"**I'm a pretty energetic guy, so waiting around doing nothing is just agonizing." Blitzle explained. "Gotta blow off steam somehow right?"**

**000**

Soon, Rotom, Magneton, Espeon, Gardevoir, Altaria, Milotic and Serperior all arrived. Milotic and Serperior used the same strategy as Cloyster and Spiritomb. Finding the door still unlocked after Milotic went in, Serperior and Milotic jumped into the toboggan that they were given and headed out. Magneton was able to find a snowtube, Altaria found an inner tube, and Espeon found a sled for skeleton bobsled racing. As the other two were about to pick a room, the cable car arrived and both Absol and Persian stepped out.

"Wait, didn't Joltik also get to use the cable car?" Gardevoir asked.

"Yes." Absol said quickly.

"Then where is he?"

"Well…" Persian answered.

**000**

"_Finally, it's all dug out." Joltik said. "Now let's put in the battery!"_

"_But where does it go?" Persian asked._

"_Maybe in the little box that says 'Battery goes here'?" Absol stated, pointing to a box which was clearly labeled "Battery goes here"._

_The other two quickly blinked before placing the battery inside and hooking up the wires. As the pressed the button to start up the cable car, it suddenly fizzled._

"_What gives? We did everything correctly!" Persian gasped._

"_Probably needs more power in that case." Absol said. "Hey shrimp, think you can power up this thing?"_

"_I can try." Joltik said as he crawled on the battery. He let out a Discharge attack and the cable car whirred to life. Both Persian and Absol jumped on the car as it rode up._

"_Wait what about me?" Joltik squeaked from the battery box._

"_The next car is probably at the top of the mountain" Persian answered as the cable car kept moving "Just keep charging it until it comes and ride that one up."_

**000**

"Wait, if him charging the battery was causing the cable car to go up, wouldn't that mean that if he stops charging the battery, the cable car won't move?" Rotom asked.

Persian and Absol's eyes widened in realization and glanced at each other nervously.

"You left him down there all alone? He'll be cold and terrified all by himself!" Gardevoir shrieked in a worried tone. "Ohhhh I hope he's okay…"

**000**

A mug of hot chocolate was set in front of Joltik under a comfy and very familiarly-patterned red and white blanket. "Sorry about that little guy," Latios said. "we must have given you one of the dead batteries by mistake. Latias was supposed to recycle it. If you had said something, we would have given you a brand new battery."

"You guys recycle batteries?" Joltik asked.

"Well not really, we have a friend, Zekrom, who comes every now and then to recharge these things. He owed me a couple favors back in college so I called them in."

"Sounds powerful." Joltik said in awe, "What did you do for him?"

"Hid him from his girlfriend Reshiram. The two fought way too often. Then again, he believed in ideals and she believed in truth, so it was to be expected." Latios answered

"So what's gonna happen to me now?" Joltik asked

"Well, due to that mishap, I guess you can stay here until the challenge is over. We'll give you immunity as well if your team loses."

Latias walked into the room the two were in "Latios, where's my blanket? I haven't seen it since-" she saw the blanket that Joltik was resting under and screamed.

"THAT WAS MY FAVORITE BLANKET LATIOS! WHY DID YOU GIVE HIM IT?"

"Well we had no others since we used them all for togas and I wasn't gonna give him mine." Latios answered matter-of-factly. "Suck it up."

"Ew ew ew ew, gross!" She wailed. Latios put in some ear plugs and offered some extra small ones to Joltik, who happily put them in.

**000**

"Well it's too late now." Persian said. "If you excuse me I am going ahead."

She entered a random room as Absol went into another. Gardevoir gave a small huff and entered an unlocked room while Rotom went in another.

Inside, Rotom was almost trampled by Blitzle who quickly stopped in front of him.

"Thank Arceus you're here!" He gasped. "I don't know how long I've been here running around. C'mon sit." He directed Rotom to the chair as they both sat down.

"So what does it do?" Rotom asked.

"No idea, it say it needs two Pokémon to use." As Blitzle pressed the "On" button.

The chair began to him as it vibrated, relaxing the two Pokémon in it.

"Oh man…this feels nice…" Blitzle said as he relaxed into the chair.

"I agree." Rotom nodded, "But I just have one question."

"What's that?"

"Why is the chair spinning and why is the wall opening up?"

Sure enough, the chair was doing a 180˚ turn and the walls were opening up to reveal the mountain. The two heard a beeping noise and looked at each other in worry.

The beeping noise soon stopped, but just before both of them could catch their breaths, the chair rocketed forward down the snowy mountain, the two Pokémon in it holding on to each other screaming at the top of their lungs.

They sped past a snowboarding Altaria, skiing Gardevoir, Absol in a bright pink snowtube who was desperately trying to avoid being seen, and Persian on a lunch tray.

**000**

"**Seriously? A lunch tray?" Persian asked exasperatedly, "How much lazier can these producers get?"**

**000**

Soon the two in the speeding massage chair hit a rock, sending them sky high and into the trees.

**000**

"**In hindsight," Rotom said, "I could have just taken over the chair and that wouldn't have hapened."**

**000**

"Why the heck hasn't anyone come yet?" Zangoose shouted, sitting in the empty sled. "I swear, everyone else probably already left!"

Unfortunately, Zangoose was right, Spinarak, Aron, Sawk, the arguing duo of Roserade and Bisharp and finally Kingdra, had reached the lodge. All of them entered rooms, at different times.

While Aron went down the mountain on a tire, Bisharp was stuck sledding down in cardboard box way too small for him.

Sawk, Spinarak, Kingdra and Roserade on the other hand, had to share a four Pokémon bobsled.

"Push!" Roserade grunted as the four tried to get the bobsled out of the lodge and onto the snow. After what seemed like half an hour but was only a minute, the sled was in the snow and going down the mountain. Spinarak, Kingdra and Roserade took up the front while Sawk decided to stay in the back. They started out slow, but soon began to speed up, passing by all the other competitors. The goal was in sight.

Sawk remembered what Latias said when multiple people cross the finish line at the same time. Since Spinarak was there when he arrived, he knew that if the bobsled crossed the line first, his team would lose. He looked behind the sled and saw Spiritomb and Cloyster a bit behind them

"If I stop this sled from reaching the goal, then those two can win it." He thought to himself, "Well, here goes nothing…"

"Brick Break!" He shouted, slamming the snow with his arm. The others in the sled heard him and turned around to see Sawk's arm in the snow.

"What are you doing?" Roserade shouted.

"Preventing you guys from winning." Sawk said smugly.

"But did you have to bring him along as well?" Kingdra asked.

"Who?" Sawk looked down to see Pineco in his hands.

"GAH!" Sawk said as he fumbled the bagworm in his hands. "What are you doing here?"

"Latias brought me back ya glaikit! Now I gotta job ta do, and it's this!" He shouted as he began to glow.

Sawk quickly tossed Pineco to Kingdra who bounced it to Roserade who threw it to Spinarak who shot it back to Sawk. It was a virtual game of hot potato between the bobsledders until Spinarak missed and Pineco landed in the snow in front of the bobsled.

As the sled passed over Pineco, he exploded, sending all four of them flying.

Kingdra and Roserade both flew into the treetops, while Sawk somehow flew all the way back to the lodge and crash landed into the sled that Zangoose was sitting in.

"Finally!" She screeched, "Do you know how long I was waiting? Let's get a move on, I am way behind now!" Sawk just let out a groan as Zangoose pushed the sled out of the lodge and down the hill.

Spinarak, just happened to land right in front of Latios, who was standing behind the finish line.

Latios waited for all the other campers to assemble before making the announcement.

"Well, we had some interesting moments today." He said, "I hope you all had fun today."

"Define fun." Stunfisk deadpanned. "And where's your sister?"

"She had a fit so I told her to cool off. She's now defrosting in front of a fire as we speak. But let's move on to who won shall we?" He stuck his hand in the hole in front of him and pulled out Spinarak. "She crossed the line first after flying over. How I don't know, but the Lugias win. Ho-Ohs, we'll be seeing your sorry butts at elimination tonight. Dismissed!"

**000**

"**Everyone on my team says they have don't have any idea who they're voting for, but I do." Zangoose said angrily.**

**000**

Persian noticed Zangoose exiting the confessional. With a smile on her lips she approached her teammate.

"Hey Zangoose, how are you?" She said, as cheerfully as she possibly could, which wasn't that cheerful at all.

"I'm doing fine thank you, I'm just venting out who I should vote for." Zangoose grumbled.

"Really now, can you please tell me who you're voting? I promise I won't tell." Persian said sweetly.

Zangoose was skeptical for a minute, then sighed, "Fine, I'll tell. I voting Sawk. I was waiting for someone to join me on the sled I had, it took him freaking forever to arrive, and I was the first person there no less. Wasted so much damn time. If he had gotten there earlier, we could have won. " She said with a huff, "I'm outta here, do what you want."

Persian smirked, "Oh I will."

**000**

"**A little Hypnosis goes a long way you know?" Persian said with a smirk, "Now I can put my brilliant plan in action."**

**000**

"I have an offer for you guys. I have a plan…"

"...to get us to the final few, all you have to…"

"…do is vote with me from now on."

"Do we have an agreement?" Persian asked.

Magneton beeped an affirmative while Aron nodded enthusiastically.

Absol and Zangoose looked at each other, shrugged, then agreed.

Serperior, Milotic, Sawk, and Altaria quietly discussed it among themselves before reaching an agreement.

Only Spriritomb and Cloyster were skeptical, well mostly Spiritomb, "Are you saying you have devised a foolproof way for us three to get to the final three, without anyone else knowing?"

"That's right." Persian beamed.

"Like I'd trust you, you almost betrayed us earlier." Spiritomb snarled.

"Well yes that's true. But I promise, I won't do it this time." She said.

"Well I'll need proof that this will work. Who will you be voting for tonight?"

"Why should I tell you?"

"Tell me who you are voting for and I and Cloyster will vote for someone else. If the person you are voting for tonight goes home, then we'll agree to join you." Spiritomb explained. "So tell me who you're voting for."

"Fine then, you win. I'm voting Sawk." Persian said with a sigh

"Alright then, I'll see you tonight at elimination. Hope that your choice goes well."

Both Spiritomb and Cloyster bounced away while Persian smiled.

**000**

"**I bet you're all wondering what is going on." Persian said. "Simple really. I've just made 3 separate alliances. One with Aron and Magneton, one with Absol and Zangoose, and one with Serperior, Milotic, Altaria and Sawk. All of them are way too trusting."**

"**With this I have control of almost all of the votes on my team. This means I can eliminate anyone I choose on our team. Tonight's target? Sawk. I need to even out these small alliances. Zangoose was already voting for him and it was easy to get Absol on board. Magneton and Aron agreed after I told them what happened. As for the other group I just had them vote Cloyster. I can't exactly tell them to vote for one of their own can I? In any case, the majority of votes are for Sawk getting out and I'll have another alliance at my command. Plus, everyone on my team will be obeying me. AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!"**

**000**

At elimination, Persian was confident. She knew nothing could go wrong. Spiritomb eyed her warily.

"Well, it's been a while since you guys have been here am I right?" Latios mocked. "Just a reminder, when I call your name, you get a poffin. The Pokémon without a poffin will be leaving us tonight. So, who is it gonna be?"

"The Pokémon who didn't receive any votes are: Persian, Milotic, Serperior, Spiritomb, Magneton, Aron, Zangoose, and Altaria." The Pokémon that were called caught their poffins, only three remained poffin-less. "Absol, you received the least amount of votes so you're safe." Absol quietly caught his poffin. Spiritomb began to glare at Persian, who replied with a smile.

"And the final poffin goes to…"

Sawk began to sweat, his hands clenched as hard as they could. Cloyster had a slight bit of worry on his face.

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

"…Cloyster."

The clam caught the poffin in his mouth while Sawk sighed in defeat. He looked at Persian with some concern. She returned with her best "I tried" look and shook her head. She then looked at the members in the same alliance and shook her head with a solemn look. She turned her head to Spiritomb and gave him a dark smile. The vortex only sighed before nodding. She then looked away from everyone and started to give a very sadistic smile.

**000**

"**One by one, they'll all fall." Persian said sinisterly. "And I will be irresistible."  
><strong>

**000**

"It sucks to see you go." Serperior said to Sawk.

"Yeah, well, I did screw up a little. You guys tried though, and that's what counts." He replied.

"We'll miss you. Say hi to Chinchou for us." Altaria said as the boat departed.

Sawk gave a thumbs up as the boat left.

"Shame one of our friends left us again. I thought Persian said this kind of thing wouldn't happen."

"Well we did have a minority of the votes. Maybe it was just coincidence that Sawk was voted off."

"Hope that doesn't happen to me." Milotic said with a frown.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure that doesn't happen." Serperior said confidently, "We just have to keep winning challenges."

"Awww, thanks." Milotic said as she rubbed up against Serperior, causing him to blush. Altaria had to stifle a chuckle under her wing.

**000**

"**You know, I think I had an okay run here." Sawk said. "I could have done better, maybe not have tripped up or injured myself so much, but I made some great friends. Serperior, Altaria, Milotic, good luck. Hope you guys win it all!"**

**000**

Gardevoir was sitting outside on the steps of the cabin. She let out a deep sigh.

"Penny for your thoughts?" A voice asked.

Gardevoir jumped a bit and turned to see who it was, "Oh Kingdra, didn't see you there. I dunno, things have just been a blur. With Zoroark's elimination and the council breaking up, it's been a tad overwhelming."

"Hmmmm, I see. I do agree that all this was a bit much, quite possibly excessive. But so is life. There will be many things that will disturb it. Normally, one would be shaken, but one with a strong spirit will not only preserve, but use it to their advantage."

"My advice, do not get swallowed by the wave. Instead, surf on it and let it take you to your destination."

Gardevoir pondered for a moment. Kingdra's words were true, she couldn't get stuck up on this, but the question was, how would she get over it?

* * *

><p><strong>And another chapter complete. That was a fun one wasn't it.<strong>

**Fun Fact 1: While this chapter was shorter than the previous one, the previous chapter was much smaller in size.**

**Fun Fact 2: Persian's strategy was originally going to be used in Total Drama Island: A New Leaf. However, since I pretty much abandoned that story, I've decided to use it here instead. And I'll say, it's gonna be put to much better use as things go on.**

**Sawk: Review to help me from injuring myself! Augh! *falls on the floor***

**Next time: It's a mad scramble as the campers try to find their way around without getting lost with a special reward at stake. Rivals bump heads and things get quite ugly. Two Pokémon confess their appreciation for one another but the morning brings the most shocking and dramatic elimination of all time.**


	14. Mayhem-less Midnight

**It didn't take make a year to update this time! Yay! Let's hope I can keep this momentum.**

**There's a fairly big announcement at the end of the chapter so please take a look.**

* * *

><p>"Last time on Pokémon Drama Island!" Latias shouted. "The campers had to climb and slide down a mountain as fast as they could in order to reach the finish line. Some cruised easily while others were sent flying. Heh. Roserade and Bisharp got to a rocky start, due trust issues after a huge fallout within the war council. Persian got jealous of Milotic's increasing popularity. In retaliation, she decided she wanted to make Milotic suffer. She allied herself with all the members of her team, creating several small alliances. When the Lugias won the challenge, Persian used her alliances to make quick work of the voting and Sawk said good-bye to his friends. Lugias are alliance-less while Ho-Ohs have their hands full with them. Will Persian be able to vote off someone in her favor? Will the former war council members reconcile? Find out with the most dramatic campfire ceremony yet! Right here on Pokémon! Drama! Island!"<p>

**000**

T'was the dead of night, Hoothoots hooting, Zubat flying, the sounds of the night echoed around the camp.

Until Latias pulled out a vuvuzela and blew into it.

"Wake up campers! It's challenge time!" She called out.

Many groans and moans were heard coming from the cabins, with the occasional "Screw you!" thrown in. The only perky one was Spinarak, who never slept anyway.

**000**

"**I would prefer that this would not become a daily occurrence." Lucario said. "My routine would be greatly disturbed."**

**000**

"So what's on the menu for today's torture?" Stunfisk deadpanned.

"Something a little simpler for all of you. Get out of the forest and get back here."

"That's it? All we have to do is just get back to camp?" Spinarak asked.

"Yes, you'll be scattered about in the forest and you'll have to touch the flagpole we will place here before the sun rises, which is in 4 hours. The team with the most people at the flagpole after the time limit wins immunity."

"Huh, that doesn't seem too bad." Serperior commented, before he was slapped on the back of the head by Zangoose.

"Idiot, you just jinxed it!"

"Yeah, it isn't so bad, but you get no light to use at all or maps." Latias explained. "Also, we took the liberty of hiding four immunity idols in the forest for this challenge only." Latios held up a small trophy which had Latios and Latias's heads on it. "If you find one, you can use it to have all the votes against you not counted for one campfire ceremony and you get to keep it for the rest of your stay on the island."

Some campers smiled, immunity from a vote was just what some of them needed.

**000**

"**Immunity is an interesting little concept early which I have confidence I can use to the best of my ability." Spiritomb commented. "If you have one, it's a good way to get people on your side by threatening them. If you don't, you can make people believe you do. Makes great psychological warfare. So even if I don't find one I should be set."**

**000**

"**While I have a great use for an idol, I personally want one myself." Persian thought aloud. "If I'm lucky, I might be able to find a second one. Even if I don't, I might be able to do something else…"**

**000**

"**Hmmm, immunity? I'll pass. It will just make me a target." A shadowy figure said in the confessional. "Last thing I want is to be out in open and noticeable. I do not want anyone knowing what I have planned."**

**000**

"**I have an announcement." Cloyster said professionally. "… I LIKE PIE!"**

**He then began to cackle.**

**000**

"Alright, hope you all are ready, we'll be teleporting you into the forest soon." Latias said.

The campers groggily huddled up, with Latios occasionally adjusting the positions.

"Have a nice challenge!" Latias shouted before she and Latios closed their eyes.

A purple glow surrounded the campers before they vanished, sending them off into the forest.

Latios and Latias floated in silence.

"So who gets first shift?" Latios asked. He received no response. He looked next to him and saw his sister fast asleep. He groaned.

**000**

After opening his eyes Joltik found himself in the forest. The trees blocked out any light coming from the moon. Vegetation surrounded him in all directions. The cries of a Noctowl could be heard. But there was one thing that stood out to Joltik.

He was alone.

So very very alone.

He squeaked in terror as he curled up into a tiny ball, shivering in fright.

**000**

Stunfisk looked down from the top of a tree he was stuck in.

"You know, I think she did this on purpose."

**000**

Magneton looked around him then stared up at the sky.

"BZZT. STARTING UP GPS SEQUENCE. OBTAINING COORDINATES..."

Magneton floated in place for a few moments. Nearby, a passing figure spotted him.

"What is he doing?" said the passing figure.

Magneton made a sudden beeping noise.

"COORDINATES LOCATED. RETURNING TO MAIN CAMP. BZZT."

The figure smiled, this was perfect. As Magneton floated away the figure followed silently.

**000**

"Come on, talk with me for a little? It will help pass the time." Espeon said with a cheery smile.

"I don't feel like talking." Absol said gruffly.

The two had found each other shortly after being teleported into the woods. Absol was silent at first, but Espeon slowly got him to talk.

"Can you stop following me? We are on different teams, both of us reaching the goal will not help either of our teams." Absol reasoned.

"But if we get there in time, both of us are less likely to be voted off, and you don't want to leave do you?" Espeon said.

Absol stiffened. She was right.

"Besides, you still aren't very comfortable around anyone else."

Absol whirled his head towards Espeon. "How did you…?"

"You barely interact with others still and if you're forced to, you just do the bare minimum. I don't know if it has to do with the whole "jinx" incident or some past trauma, but you still need to interact with others a bit more. Having friends or at least some trustworthy acquaintances would be good for you, get over your loneliness."

Absol just stared at Espeon as the two continued walking through the forest.

**000**

"**I actually have to give Kingdra all the credit for that." Espeon explained. "He's the one that figured everything out and told me. In fact, he's been helping me out a lot with Absol, I don't think I would have made this much progress so quickly on my own."**

**000**

Persian sauntered through the forest slowly with smile on her face. The reason for her happiness was sitting on her back, an immunity idol.

**000**

"**Lucky, lucky me, I got an immunity idol!" Persian smiled, holding up her prize. "Found this in a nearby bush soon after I started moving. Now I have to see if I can find another."**

**000**

Walking a little more, Persian soon encountered a familiar face, or rather vortex.

"Hello Persian, looks like you have found something of interest, gauging from your mood and the object on your back."

Persian smirked, "Jealous you couldn't find one?"

"I am not that concerned with finding it, I have confidence in my own abilities to win this."

"Having extra security does help."

"Perhaps, but even if I get one, I can find more interesting uses for it than just my own safety."

"And what would that be?"

"I would rather keep it secret."

"But we are in an alliance."

"That does not mean I have to share all information."

"Fair enough, now if you will excuse me."

Persian continued her walk through the forest, leaving Spiritomb behind. Spiritomb continued to wait until Persian was out of earshot.

"Did you get it?" He spoke.

Cloyster popped out of a nearby tree with a grin on his face.

"As perfect as a Klefki's keyring!"

Spiritomb looked at Cloyster confused, "What's a Klefki?"

"I DON'T KNOW!" Cloyster cackled.

**000**

"**Even though Cloyster has some…issues," Spiritomb began, "he does have a photographic memory, which is useful for recreating scenarios, locations, or…"**

**Spiritomb slowly lifted up a wooden object, "an immunity idol. This is not the real thing, but I can make someone think it is." he finished with an evil grin.**

**000**

Roserade looked around her surroundings. She was confident in the direction she was going, her frequent trips into the forest helping.

She suddenly bumped into a hard object causing her to flinch. She rubbed her head and looked in front of her and saw a familiar figure.

"Ah, it's you." Lucario said.

"Yes, me." Roserade replied. "How have you been since our split?"

"I have been alright." Lucario answered as he walked ahead, Roserade right behind him. "It was for the best anyway." Roserade nodded in agreement.

Time passed without a word between the two as the pair continued forward.

Lucario broke the silence. "May I ask you a question?"

"Go ahead."

"Were Gardevoir and Zoroark…close?"

Roserade pondered for a moment. "If you mean to imply those two were romantically involved, I can't say for sure. Gardevoir definitely had feelings for Zoroark, and those two were good friends if I recall. Other than that, I'm not too sure myself."

"As I expected…" Lucario muttered.

"Hey, uh, who do you think betrayed the group anyway?" Roserade asked, quickly changing the subject.

Lucario was quiet for a minute. "I do not know myself. After hearing what you have had to say, I may have narrowed it down."

Roserade smiled, things were looking up.

"However, that is only if your words are to be trusted."

Roserade froze.

"So you don't trust me as well?" she asked angrily. "Can't you use your aura powers to see if I am lying?"

"I can detect people, thoughts and feelings, but cannot completely discern a person's thoughts." Lucario explained. "While you may speak the truth, I am reluctant to trust anyone right now. Once I have all of the facts, I will come to my conclusion. There are too many 'ifs' right now."

Lucario started to walk away, leaving Roserade.

"At least trust me when I say you're walking the wrong way then."

Lucario froze in place as Roserade continued. "I know how to get out of here. If you follow me, we both get out of this forest in time and less likely get eliminated."

Lucario turned around and walked back toward Roserade. "Lead the way then."

**000**

"**Seriously? He doesn't trust me? What the heck?" Roserade shouted. "I'm probably the most trustworthy person on this team after Gardevoir! What a jerk."**

**Roserade looked around for quick moment. "My feelings for him still haven't changed though." she said shyly.**

**000**

"**I had made a grave error in trusting others so easily when this competition started." Lucario explained. "After the war council incident, I realized I have to scrutinize others more closely from now on. As for now, choose to work alone."**

**000**

Aron wandered through the forest. He had no idea where he was going, the darkness of the forest making it impossible to gauge where he was. Needless to say, he had no idea where he was going. Not to mention, he was getting hungry.

"Where can I find some metal in this place?" He whined as he walked through a bush.

He suddenly bumped into a small object about his size. Jumping back startled, Aron waited a few moments before tapping the object to see if it would do anything else. Seeing that it would not attack, one thought crossed his mind.

Is it safe to eat?

Aron moved his mouth toward the object and took a bite, and immediately spit it out.

"Pppphhhhh! That's not metal, it's wood. Nevermind." Aron said as he kicked the object away, causing it to tumble off a small ledge.

As he walked away, he thought that he object looked a little familiar, but shrugged it off.

**000**

Zangoose hacked and slashed her way through the foliage as she carved her path through the woods.

**000**

**Zangoose smirked, "My motto? Mow down anything and everything in your way. Also lets me know if I'm just going around in one big circle. Yeah, just because I'm strong doesn't mean I don't have a brain of my own!"**

**000**

"So do you think we should go to the left or right?" Milotic asked.

"Left, I recognize this area from the capture the flag challenge. If we keep going that way, we should end up at camp very quickly." Serperior answered.

"Look at you being Mr. Observant. Never seen you be so serious." Milotic smiled.

"Well yeah, I can get serious if I want. Especially if someone I care about is nearby." Serperior said confidently.

"Wait, you care about me? In what way?" Milotic asked in a slightly lower voice.

Serperior paused. He did not think his previous sentence through.

"Uhh well, you're a great teammate and uhhh you're a good friend of mine and-"

**000**

"**How do you tell a girl she's pretty without sounding like a creeper?" Seriperior asked, "I'm pretty good at most things but I suck at talking about feelings!"**

**000**

"-what I mean to say is you're a great girl which I have a lot of appreciation for and-."

"GANGWAAAYYYYYYYYY!"

Serperior barely had any time to react before Stunfisk fell on top of him.

"Oh sweet ground, how I've missed you!" Stunfisk exclaimed before bouncing away.

Milotic looked at Serperior for a few seconds before asking, "Are you alright?"

Serperior groaned in response.

**000**

"I'm surprised I was able to bump into you." Lampent said to her traveling companion.

"Same here. Didn't think Latios would put us so close to each other." Rotom replied.

"Guess love somehow finds a way, wouldn't you say?" Lampent said with a smirk.

Rotom grinned, "You can say that again."

"Ummmm, hate to ruin the mood here, but can it wait until we get out of this place?" Blitzle commented from behind the two.

The two ghosts jumped apart, blushing.

**000**

"**Rotom and Lampent are great friends." Blitzle explained, "Me and Rotom are real tight and Lampent is a cool gal for putting up with us. I'm happy that they're a couple. I really am."**

"**But I have to admit, I'm a little jealous of seeing those two so close when Deerling isn't here. Makes things a tad awkward for me."**

**000**

"Sorry about that man," Rotom said sheepishly, "can't help it with such a pretty lady by my side."

Lampent looked away from the grin Rotom was giving her, "Flattery won't get you anywhere." She said with a slight blush.

Blitzle sighed.

**000**

"**I feel bad for third-wheeling Blitzle." Rotom said. "But I mean I found a girl I could really connect with and I want to spend as much time with her before either one of us get eliminated. And with Latios trying to get rid of me, that could happen at any second!"**

**000**

Joltik remained huddled in a ball on the ground. He had not moved an inch since being teleported.

His head jerked left when he heard a rustling noise. As the noise grew louder Joltik tensed up. Who, or what was coming?

Aron popped out of the nearby bush, brushing off the leaves. He looked ahead only to see Joltik's body flying at him.

"What the-!" Aron shouted, seeing the small yellow body fly at him. Joltik latched itself onto Aron's back.

"Sorry about this." Joltik squeaked. "I was just so scared."

"Oh it's you." Aron said in realization. "I'm fine with it. Besides, I need someone to talk to, since I'm the only first-stage Pokémon left on my team."

Joltik nodded. "Yeah, it must be tough for you. Let's get out of here first, I'm still a bit scared of this place."

**000**

Gardevoir walked alone through the woods. She had no idea where she was going, only hoping that she was close. She soon saw light coming into the forest and jogged towards the source. As she neared, she closed her eyes, shielding her eyes from the bright light.

"And Gardevoir closes the gap, 6 – 5 now." A tired Latios mumbled.

Gardevoir looked around and saw who had already made it out. Magneton, Bisharp, Kingdra, Cloyster, Spiritomb, Stunfisk, Altaria, Persian, Absol and Espeon were standing before her, some of them looking like they would fall asleep at any moment.

"How much time is left?" Gardevoir asked Kingdra as she stood next to him.

"Less than two hours." He answered quietly. "Any luck in finding an idol?"

"Sadly, no." Gardevoir replied. "How about you?"

"Fortune did not smile upon me. However, it seems that three of them have already been found by others."

"Really? Who?"

"Spiritomb, Persian and Stunfisk."

Gardevoir chuckled. "Latias will not be happy about that last one."

Kingdra cracked a smile. "I agree."

Soon, Aron popped out of the woods, Joltik still clinging onto his back.

"Alright, we're finally out!" Aron shouted.

"And we're still down one." muttered an irritated Bisharp. "About ninety minutes left until sunrise..."

"And on that note, it's now my sister's shift. Excuse me for a minute." Latios said as floated toward Aron.

He plucked Joltik off of Aron's back and brought it over to where Latias was sleeping. He gingerly placed the bug on the tip of Latias's nose.

"One of you please wake her up. I'm off to take a nap." Latios said as he floated away.

Everyone just stared and backed away from the sleeping host. They all had the same thought. This was a ticking time bomb waiting to go off, and no one wanted to be in the blast zone.

Spinarak looked at the scene in front of her. "Uhhh, is anyone gonna do anything or…?"

The Lugias, seeing another team member, cheered, waking Latias up.

"Oh, it's my shift now?" Latias yawned. "Okay let me-" She froze when she saw Joltik staring right at her.

"Uh, hi?" Joltik waved.

Latias screamed at the top of her lungs

**000**

"What was that?" Rotom asked.

"Sounded like Latias." Lampent said as she pointed to her right. "Seems like it came from over there."

"That must be where the main camp is then," Blitzle concluded. "Let's go!"

**000**

Roserade removed her hands from her ears. "We must be close. My ears are still ringing from that."

Lucario nodded. "One second." He shot his fist into a nearby bush. He rummaged around a little before pulling out an immunity idol.

"Alright, all set, let's go." He said.

Roserade stood with her mouth agape for a few seconds then swore.

**000**

Zangoose's ears perked up at Latias's shriek and swore. She turned around and ran the other direction.

"Dammit! I've been going the wrong way all this time! Now I gotta make up for lost time."

**000**

Both Serperior and Milotic weaved between the branches and bushes. They had the scream and were heading to the source.

"I think everyone must have heard that scream." Serperior said as he moved past a bush.

Milotic ducked under a low branch. "If that's the case, then we've lost. Their team outnumbers us completely."

Serperior looked to his right. "Well, it's almost sunrise. Maybe we'll get lucky and enough of them might not make it in time."

"I think–" Milotic started but Serperior cut her off.

"I know, it's probably wishful thinking and it won't happen."

"Well yes but –"

"Still, I'd like it to be true so we don't have to lose another teammate."

"Serperior –"

"I mean I don't know about you, if you were voted off I would be–" Serperior was cut off as he hit a tree, sending him sprawling.

"I was going to warn you about that tree." Milotic sighed as she moved toward Serperior. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah I think I'm fine." Serperior said, slightly dazed.

Milotic sighed in relief.

"Just gotta chlorinate the mulberry bush."

Milotic sighed as she put Serperior on her back and moved through the rest of the forest.

**000**

Soon, all of the competitors had reached flag pole at the main camp, with the sun still a few minutes before the sun rose.

Latias was huddled under a blanket mumbling incoherently. Latios looked at his sister before facing the campers with a slight smirk on his face.

"So who were the lucky individuals to receive an immunity idol?" Latios asked.

Spiritomb, Persian, Stunfisk and Lucario all held up their idols. Aron looked at the idols and his eyes widened.

"That's weird." he whispered aloud.

"Hmm? What's up?" Joltik asked on top of Aron's head.

"Those idols, one of them should have a chunk off of it."

"Why's that?"

"Well I kinda bit one when I was in the forest. Didn't think anything of it at the time though. Too hungry at the time."

"Wait, does that mean one of those idols is a fake?" Joltik asked in a surprised whisper

Aron nodded, "Probably, that would make sense."

Next to them, Bisharp had listened in a little, and the gears in his head began turning.

**000**

"**A fake idol…" Bisharp said, rubbing his chin. "Now things are going to get interesting, perhaps I can use this…"**

**000**

Latios glanced at his trembling sister. "Seeing as how Latias is in no condition to deliver the news, I'll do it. Since all of you made it here in time, the team with more people wins, meaning the Lugias!"

The Lugias cheered while Ho-Ohs just sighed. They were used to losing.

"Ho-Ohs choose wisely who you'll be sending home tonight. I'll see you all later."

**000**

"**Oh I know who is going home alright." Persian said with a toothy grin.**

**000**

Roserade flopped onto her bed and let out a long sigh.

Gardevoir looked up from her book, "I take it something didn't go well?"

"It's Lucario." Roserade explained, rolling over onto her stomach. "Says he doesn't trust me, or anyone for that matter, after that whole war council incident."

"What happened?" Gardevoir asked, setting her book down.

Roserade recounted her conversation back in the forest in full detail.

Gardevoir pondered for a minute. "How about I talk to him? If he hears it from me, he is more likely to trust you."

Roserade nodded. "That would really help. I'd really like to know Lucario better but we can just never connect."

"Yeah, it was kind of like that between me and Zoroark, especially after he got all depressed."

"And then he got voted off and you two couldn't get anywhere. No offense, but I really wish that doesn't happen to me and Lucario."

"Well…I wouldn't say we didn't get anywhere…" Gardevoir admitted with a blush.

Roserade shot up from her bed. "Wait did you two hook up? When did this happen? Come on, give me details!"

"No! I promised him I would not tell a soul." Gardevoir shouted, clearly embarrassed.

"Not even me? I'm your best friend here!" Roserade reasoned.

Gardevoir shook her head. "Sorry, but no means no Roserade. I made a promise I intend to keep."

Roserade sighed, "Fine, I'll let you off the hook since you're helping me with Lucario. I do expect to hear that story eventually though."

**000**

"Thanks again for letting me hang out with you guys!" Aron said in a chipper tone. He was currently playing Monopoly with Joltik and Spinarak.

"No problem, it was the least I could do after helping me out earlier." Joltik replied on Aron's back.

"It must be tough being the only not fully-evolved Pokémon on your team." Spinarak said as she rolled the die.

Aron shrugged. "Well, you get used to it, but yeah, it is kinda weird. Don't have many friends there."

"Well now you got us!" Joltik chirped. "We've been looking for someone to play games with us since Shuckle left anyway. We would have tried to find someone on our team, but they're all too busy. Hey mind rolling the die for me?"

"No problem." Aron said as he picked up the die. "I might have to take a quick break though, have to go to elimination soon."

"That's fine, we'll be here." Spinarak said. "Joltik you owe me $50."

"Again?!"

**000**

"**Us unevolved Pokémon need to stick together." Spinarak said. "With all these other evolved Pokémon around, we could be easy pickings."**

**000**

"From what you describe, we might have to approach this from a different angle." Kingdra reasoned.

Espeon nodded. "But the question is how. We are definitely getting closer."

Kingdra pondered a moment. "Perhaps you should open yourself to him, tell Absol about yourself. Perhaps he's apprehensive since he doesn't know enough about us to give us his full trust."

Espeon thought for a moment. "That might be it. Thanks for the tip!"

Kingdra smiled, "No problem. Remember, I am rooting for you!"

**000**

"**Now, it's time for me to begin the next part of the plan." Persian said.**

"So I think we should vote for Cloyster." Persian told Milotic, Serperior and Altaria.

"Even though he is crazy, he is still a big threat." she explained to Magneton and Aron.

"We need to take him out now for our own safety, both physical and mental." she said to Zangoose and Absol.

**000**

"**And done. Bye-bye. I won't miss you." Persian said, smiling.**

**000**

"So, now we arrive at the all-important elimination ceremony." Latios said to the Ho-ohs in front of him. "Sadly Latias couldn't make it due to severe trauma, So I'm taking are of this as well."

"Right now there are ten of you. After tonight, only nine will remain. The one leaving will not get a poffin from me, the question is who will be that unlucky fellow."

"Let's start with who's safe. Milotic, Persian, Spiritomb and Zangoose, come grab your poffins.

The four Pokémon called moved to grab their poffins.

"Absol, Magneton and Altaria, you three also get a poffin."

As the three Pokémon got their poffins, Latios looked at the remaining three Pokémon that were not called.

"Aron, Serperior, Cloyster. Three of you remain. One of you received no votes, one of you received a majority of the votes, while one of you received a few."

"Aron, you received no votes so come get a poffin."

Aron happily jumped off his seat and retrieved his poffin.

"And then there were two." Latios said as he looked at the two remaining Pokémon.

Serperior had a nervous glance on his face, Milotic shooting him worried looks. Cloyster just had his signature grin on his face.

"The Pokémon leaving tonight is…"

Serperior's pupils shrunk as he held his breath. Cloyster just kept smiling.

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

"…Cloyster."

Serperior relaxed and sighed, as Cloyster closed his eyes. Serperior got out of his seat and went to retrieve his Poffin.

Cloyster's eyes shot open. "NOT SO FAST!" he shouted.

Everyone froze and looked at him.

"I have an item which I greatly wish to present." He shuffled around a little bit before taking out an item from his shell. Upon seeing it, Serperior's heart sank.

It was an immunity idol.

Everyone's eyes widened at the sight.

Cloyster cackled triumphantly. "I have been given the symbol of immunity. That means, all my votes have been removed from the equation!"

He tossed it to Latios who caught it and examined it. "Well, this is a surprise." Latios commented. "While I don't remember you getting one during the challenge, you have one now. I don't know who thought you were valuable enough to warrant giving an immunity idol to but they saw you as useful and did so."

"So does that mean…?" Milotic asked, fear in her voice.

"Yes." Latios responded. "Serperior, you have been eliminated. Please pack your bags, your boat awaits."

Serperior hung his head in defeat.

**000**

"**We were completely blindsided." Serperior said. "We had no idea someone would give Cloyster their immunity idol and we voted for him. I guess I just got unlucky in the end, those two votes could have gone for anyone."**

**Serperior sighed. "Milotic, Altaria, hope one of you two win this. Actually, I know one of you two will."**

**000**

Serperior stood at the dock with Altaria and Milotic.

"I'm going to miss you, you know." Milotic said, hugging Serperior.

Serperior returned the hug. "Yeah I'll miss you too. It's a shame we didn't get to talk more."

"But you know…"

Millotic titled her head in question.

"Maybe after this is all over, would you…like to get lunch with me sometime?" Serperior asked nervously.

Milotic smiled. "I'd love to."

A foghorn interrupted their thoughts.

"Can you please hurry it up? We've got a schedule to keep!" Latios shouted from inside the boat.

"One second!" Serperior shouted. "Guess that's my cue. Win it for us alright?" Milotic nodded. "Atta girl."

Serperior slithered down the dock and got into the boat. As it pulled away from the island he waved to his two friends, who waved back. Soon the boat was too far away to be seen.

Altaria put her wing around a shaking Milotic, "There, there. Let it out."

Milotic buried her head in Altaria's wing and sobbed. Altaria continued to comfort her friend and let her cry herself out. She needed the support and Altaria was more than happy to give.

Some distance away Persian watched what happened. She smiled and walked away.

**000**

"**I couldn't have asked for a more perfect day." Persian said. "I knew about Milotic and her little boyfriend. They were tip-toeing around each other much that it was painful to watch. So why not separate the two? However, two "fair eliminations" would bring suspicion into that alliance after my promises, so I had to make it **_**seem**_** like it was out of my control."**

"**Me, Cloyster and Spiritomb voted for Serperior while everyone else on our team voted for Cloyster. I gave Cloyster the immunity idol I found and voila! Serperior is gone and I break Milotic's spirit even more. Only one more good swing before I crush it completely." Persian said before giving an evil grin."**

**000**

"And now for my next target…" Persian said as she glanced back, licking her lips.

* * *

><p><strong>OOOOOOHHHHHH BOYYYYYYYYYY. That was quite a shocker wasn't it?<strong>

**Simple enough challenge, but allows for a lot of diversity**

**Now for some serious talk. First of all, I will see this story to the end, so no worries on cancelation. However, as I write more and more, I start to hold higher standards for myself. I've gone back through old chapters and I've got to say, they're not that great. When I first created this story, I had very bare-bones outlines of what would happen. However, one of the biggest problems with this story is the characterization. Originally, I only used a few adjectives to describe each character, or base a story or quirk around them. I didn't give them a "character" so to speak, making it hard to have a consistent character. This is one of the few things that is causing me to take more time than expected to produce new chapters. One thing I've done in this chapter and the previous one to try to rectify that and is have more character interactions in a more packed arrangement, whilst developing a stronger characters by giving them behave certain ways. That being said, I would like to revisit some of the older chapters and re-write them. Improve characterization, making sure they stay constant, update the formatting, have challenges that are a little more entertaining, things like that. Major plot points will stay the same, including eliminations and stories. I'll be posting a poll on my profile soon to see if you guys want re-writes or not, but let me know in reviews on your opinions. **

**Serperior: Please review. If you don't, I'll uh, do something bad! Yeah!**

**Next Time: The competitors' endurance is tested in the next challenge, but the host throws a surprising curveball into the mix. One player discovers another player's dangerous game while another starts making moves. Eventually, one contestant is unable to handle the pressure and breaks down.**


	15. Hanging by Razor's Edge, or not

**THIS TRAIN ISN'T STOPPING YET!**

**I haven't worked on updating older chapters yet, mostly because only two people have voted. VOTE PEOPLE!**

* * *

><p>"Last time on Pokémon Drama Island." Latios grumbled. "We had the campers find their way back to camp after placing them in different parts of the forest. Sounds easy right? Well, wrong. We hid a couple of immunity idols in the forest as well. Finding one would grant one of our competitors immunity from one elimination ceremony. And wouldn't you know it, one was used right after the challenge. Cloyster became the first contestant to use an immunity idol. However, it was Persian who gave Cloyster her immunity idol in order to eliminate Serperior. Meanwhile, Spiritomb crafted a fake immunity idol that looks exactly like the original. What he plans on doing with it, no one knows. Two immunity idols, 21 campers, one big prize, who will come out on top? Find out tonight on Pokémon. Drama. Island."<p>

**000**

Bisharp looked at the stone he had picked up a while back while eating his cereal. There were no scratches on it and no matter how hard he had tried, he could not break it.

"Interesting…" he muttered.

**000**

"**I still have no idea on what this stone is or if it does anything." Bisharp said, holding the black rock in front of him. "It feels like there is some sort of untapped power there but again, I do not know what."**

"**However, ever since I picked this up, I have had headaches, with the occasional memory lapse. I am not worried as of right now though, I am more worried about who betrayed the war council and what their true intentions are."**

**000**

"Did you get em?" asked a smiling Rotom.

Lampent nodded as she pulled out a bunch of feathers from behind her back. "Yep, now all we need is the glue."

"Oh I've got that covered." Rotom said with a wave. "Found some after sneaking into the janitorial closet. You won't believe some of the stuff you find in there. In fact, I think I found something we can use for the next prank."

"Really? Awesome!" Lampent exclaimed as the two high-fived.

Espeon looked at the two and rolled her eyes.

**000**

"**Whatever those two are up to, it is going to bite them back really hard." Espeon said.**

**000**

At a different table, Altaria was comforting a still depressed Milotic.

"She is still a little broken up about what happened isn't she?" Persian asked, looking at the two.

Altaria nodded. "It was a harsh blow. The only thing that we can do is comfort her for a while."

"Hmm, I see." Persian said solemnly. As Altaria turned to comfort her friend, Persian grinned.

Meanwhile, Spiritomb eyed her from afar.

**000**

"**This just keeps getting better and better." Persian cackled. "All I need to do is remove her final support and Milotic will be a complete wreck. And I will be the one to shine."**

**000**

**Spiritomb had a thoughtful look on his face. "That girl, she normally would not care at all about Milotic, in fact she downright despises her. In fact, she normally looks down on everyone else, but she is being very cordial to everyone recently. Not to mention, why would she give Cloyster her own immunity idol last time? It was almost as if she knew that he would get voted off. I hardly think that she would care if Cloyster or Serperior were voted off. She is definitely up to something."**

"**Looks like I have some researching to do."**

**000**

"So, any ideas on what the challenge may be?" Gardevoir asked as she bit into her toast.

"I do not have the foggiest idea." Kingdra replied. "Hopefully it is actually team-based this time, the last few have all been based on individual effort."

"Well I'd tell you you're right Kingdra, but sadly, you're wrong." Latias said, floating into the mess hall.

"Wow, are you guys actually on schedule for a change?" Stunfisk drawled, "How long did we have to wait for the last two?"

Latias glared at Stunfisk before using her psychic powers to fling him into a spoon-slurping Aron. "Ignoring that little distraction, everyone, please follow me to today's challenge." Latias said as she dusted her hands off

The campers filed out of the mess hall and followed Latias to a sandy area. There was a log suspended by two poles, a ladder leaning on each pole. Next to the structure was a small cabana where Latios was grilling some burgers on a flattop.

Latias clapped. "Welcome to today's challenge. Fairly simple concept, just don't let go of the log."

"Wow, this is such a creative challenge." Stunfisk deadpanned. "Between this one and the last, I don't know which one was more exciting."

Latias glared before using her psychic powers to throw him again, this time into Magneton.

"BZZT. VISUAL IMPAIRMENT DETECTED. BZZT" Magneton beeped as Stunfisk slid onto the ground.

Latios continued with her instructions. "After you let go, you're free to relax in the abana area, get a burger, make a smoothie, watch, I don't care. Just stay somewhere I can see you."

"Now, up you go. Get into a comfortable position and we'll start shortly after."

Most of the competitors realized that the log was too small to stand on, only Spiritomb's rock was able to stay balanced on top. As a result, most of them grabbed on to it in some way, usually using whatever limbs or appendages they had. Both Joltik and Spinarak decided to hang on by a thread attached to the log, Kingdra curled his tail around it, while Milotic wrapped her whole body around the log. Cloyster took a slightly different approach and stuck his spike through the log, which somehow held him in place.

From his hanging position, Bisharp looked at everyone else and saw what they were doing. Seeing Cloyster, an idea popped into his head. He took his right arm and swung the bladed end into the left side of the log, and lodged his left arm blade into the right side.

**000**

"**By having my blades in the log, I have a less likely chance of my grip slipping." Bisharp explained. "Plus, I am able to switch positions to allow certain muscles to rest if necessary."**

**000**

"**Pff, this is easy." Rotom said nonchalantly. "Lampent and I can just make this easier on us by levitating. It's a free win for us!"**

"**Then again, a couple of the other team members can levitate as well…"**

**000**

Latias looked at the hanging contestants. "Now that everyone seems like they are in a comfortable position, we should be able to get started." She turned to Latios.

"Latios, is he here yet?"

"Should be." Her brother answered, flipping a burger. "I sent an intern to go get him when he arrived, you know how he is."

As if on cue, an Elgyem floated into sight, with a familiar face behind it.

Blitzle squinted. "Is that…?"

Latias smiled. "Yup! Say hello again to Sigilyph! He'll be helping out with today's challenge."

The familiar avianoid floated into the area, his eyes unblinking as usual.

"Welcome back Sigilyph! I assume you've been told what you have to do, right?" Latias said.

"Actually, I spaced out before I was given my instructions, so no." Sigilyph replied. A few people chuckled.

Latias sighed, "Well in any case I need you to…" she continued to mumble into Sigilyph's ear. When she pulled away, the other Pokémon nodded.

"Seems easy enough." Sigilyph said as he headed over the pit.

Sigilyph stared at the contestants for a little bit. Everyone looked at him in question. Suddenly, they felt a heavy pressure on top of them. Almost immediately, Magneton fell to the ground.

"BZZT. LEVITATION SYSTEMS FAILED. HEAVY DAMAGE SUSTAINED. IMMEDIATE REBOOT REQUIRED. BZZT."

"What the? What the hell did he do?" Zangoose grunted.

"Gravity." Latias answered calmly. "It's to nullify any possible cheating via levitation. Now, hope you're all comfortable, you might be there for a LONG time."

"Joy." Stunfisk grunted under the strain.

**000**

**Rotom threw his hands in the air. "Well everything is up in the air now!"**

**000**

"**That was a…strange sensation." Lucario commented. "Before Sigilyph began, it felt like I was hanging on to a normal pull-up bar. After though, it felt like I was holding onto a rock with a waterfall crashing down on top of me."**

"**Of course, I have already trained in that kind of environment for hours. This should not be difficult."**

**000**

The first couple minutes were uneventful. It was not until half an hour after the challenge began that people started to feel the strain. Blitzle was struggling due to his unique body structure, Cloyster was slipping little by little, Stunfisk and Aron's hands were constantly slipping and Kingdra could have sworn too much blood had gone into his head.

Only fifteen minutes later, Kingdra let go of the log, falling into the sand. Aron's grip faltered as well and he fell into the sand.

As the two left to get something to eat, Espeon let go of the log. As she recovered, she noticed something about one of the hanging contestants.

"Gardevoir!"

Gardevoir looked down. "What is it?"

"You might want to keep your legs together a little more!"

"What do you mean by-" Gardevoir stopped mid-sentence and her eyes widened as she realized what Espeon was talking about. Blushing, she moved one of her hands to her skirt and tugged, the other one holding the log as best as she could.

**000**

"**I love and hate this skirt sometimes." Gardevoir complained. **

**000**

Kingdra looked at Aron eating a frying pan.

"Are you okay with this?" He asked Latios, who was flipping burgers.

"It's fine, we were going to throw it out anyway. Latias destroyed it and a few other pots and pans when she was cooking anyway."

"May I ask what she was trying to make?"

"Scrambled eggs."

"…"

"I don't know how she does it either. Worse part is, I end up having to pay for almost all the stuff she breaks."

"Could you say that is the reason why you constantly cause her grief at every chance you get?" Espeon asked, walking over to the bar area.

Latios shrugged. "Maybe, she never seems sorry for the trouble that she causes me. Not to mention that she never appreciates my work. I'm honestly not doing all of this for myself. She wanted some help and I obliged."

Latios placed a burger on a bun. "Why am I even telling you this, you guys can't help. Kingdra, here's your burger. How do you like yours Espeon?"

Espeon gave Kingdra a knowing glance before turning back to Latios. "Well-done."

**000**

Cloyster soon slipped out of the hole he made and landed with a crash that shook the whole structure. The shaking caused Spiritomb's rock to become unbalanced and fall off the log, while Absol lost his grip, causing him to fall.

Latias looked at the remaining contestants holding onto the log. "Alright, now to spice things up a bit!"

She pulled out a small box. "In here are strips of paper with prizes on them. Every few minutes I'll pick a piece of paper out of the box. I will announce the prize and if you decide to drop out, you and whoever else drops out will share the prize for the rest of the challenge duration."

"Now our first prize is…four six-packs of Red Tauros. Any takers?"

Almost instantly, Blitzle hit the sandy ground. "I volunteer as tribute!"

Rotom let go as well. "Same here. I'm always down for Red Tauros."

As the two left the area, they looked up and both clicked their tongues in approval.

"Hey, both of you behave!" Lampent chided while hanging.

Gardevoir's blush turned a deeper red as she tugged on her skirt harder.

**000**

"**Boys will be boys I guess." Lampent shrugged.**

**000**

Fifteen minutes later, no one had dropped out. Latias reached back into the box and pulled out another slip of paper. "Next item up for grabs is…a deluxe set of Bellossom Beauty Products, kindly donated by our friends at Shaymin Scents. Shaymin Scents, we make sure you smell like a field of flowers. Try out our new delivery service and get a free bottle of Gracidea scented perfume!" Latias finished with a wink to the camera.

"Really sis? You're advertising for them?" Latios shouted from the cabana area.

"What? She's a good friend. It's the least I could do."

"How much did she pay you?"

"Gave me 5 cakes of Spring Sawsbuck Soap. That stuff's expensive!" Latios rolled his eyes.

Latias turned back to the players on the log. "So, do I have any offers?"

Persian immediately leaped off the log screaming. "MMMMMIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

**000**

"**What? The beauty products I brought have almost run out, and I refuse to use the stuff they have here." Persian said. "It's natural that I would want the deluxe set."**

**000**

Minutes later, Lampent let go. She quickly joined Rotom and Blitzle who were enjoying a few smoothies.

Meanwhile, Bisharp continued to hang in silence. All of a sudden, another headache racked his head, making him squeeze his eyes shut and grit his teeth in pain.

"Are you alright? Milotic asked, looking at Bisharp's pained expression.

Bisharp cracked open an eye. "Y-yeah, I'm perfectly-"

Bisharp's eyes shot open, taking in a deep breath.

Milotic looked at him questioningly. "What were you saying?"

Bisharp exhaled. "I'm perfectly fine." He grunted as he readjusted his arms, gripping the log tighter.

**000**

"**I feel a bit strange." Bisharp said, looking at his hands. "My head seems clearer than before. I also feel stronger. Perhaps, it's the stone? I was told I nearly killed Zangoose one time, maybe I am getting used to its properties?"**

"**Whatever the case is, I will harness this new energy, and use it to the fullest."**

**000**

A couple minutes later, Latias fished around in her box of goodies. "So the next item up for grabs is…" she pulled out a piece of paper. "half a dozen boxes of a dozen Combee Donuts."

"Aaaaand that's my cue. I'm out." Stunfisk said as he dropped down. "Can't pass out on Combee Donuts."

As he bounced away, Stunfisk looked up from where he was and whistled.

"Would people please stop looking up my skirt?!" Gardevoir cried desperately.

**000**

Absol was napping under a nearby tree. Hearing familiar footsteps, he cracked an eye open.

"To what do I owe this pleasure?" Absol grunted

Espeon beamed. "I'm going to help you get some friends."

Absol sighed, he might as well play along. Slowly, he got up and stretched.

Both he and Espeon walked to the cabana and looked around. There were many open seats, with many removed contestants sitting next to each other.

Absol followed Espeon to two open seats. As he sat down, Espeon used her psychic powers to make a fruit smoothie. She poured the drink into cups and passed two to Absol.

"This is probably the easiest way to get you to talk to someone else." Espeon explained. "Share a drink with someone. Just don't be awkward about it."

"You make it sound easy."

"It is. Just say you made a little too much and you want to share. Simple, and gets you to interact with other people.

"No, I mean the part where I have to take the cups. I don't have psychic powers."

"…that was an oversight on my part. Uhhh, give me second, I'll go think of something."

Espeon leaped off the chair before Absol could say anything, leaving him alone.

"Great, I've got two drinks and no idea of what to do with them."

Absol thought to himself for a moment. Espeon was trying to help. He didn't want the help, but she was going to give it no matter what. Perhaps he should try what she suggested, make her a bit happy. He hated disappointment.

"Just let someone know you made too much." He mumbled. He looked around to see if anyone else was nearby. He saw a lone figure sitting by itself, looking completely bored.

"Hey Stunfisk." He said, catching the flounder's attention. Absol gestured towards the cups. "Can't finish all this, you want some?"

Stunfisk pondered for a moment and shrugged. He bounced over and climbed onto the chair. "So, what's in it?"

"No idea, Espeon made it."

"Why?"

"She's trying to help me people to get along with."

"And you're listening to her advice."

"To be honest, I don't care. I can find friends, but sometimes you don't want them."

"Heh, I know that feeling. Reminds me of back at my old swamp. Long story short, guys at the swamp were idiots and I pissed them off."

"My situation's not much better."

"Care to elaborate?"

"Sorry, I don't talk about my past on first dates."

Stunfisk roared with laughter. "Hah! That's a good one! We're gonna get along just fine."

Absol nodded, as he sipped his drink. He spit it out immediately.

"What's wrong with it?"

"Extremely sour. What's with Espeon's taste buds?"

Stunfisk dumped out the contents of his cup. "Come on, let's go get a real drink."

A short distance away, Espeon looked at Absol and Stunfisk chatting from behind a counter and smiled.

**000**

"**And that's progress, Absol's on his way!" Espeon cheered. Her face quickly turned somber. "But what did he mean by taste buds being bad? Nomel Berry smoothies were a favorite when I was an Eevee."**

**000**

"Hey Latios, I think this blender is broken." Lampent shouted.

"The hell? That was brand new!" Latios grumbled as he floated towards Lampent. He unplugged the device and plugged it back in. He pressed a couple buttons on the device but it still did not turn on.

He lifted the lid off the blender and gagged at the smell. "What did you put in here? Durin and Spelon berries?"

Lampent shrugged. "Just an old recipe my folks always had me drink when I was a Litwick."

Latios moved his head to look inside the blender, when the device suddenly whirred to life, covering Latios's face with its contents.

Rotom popped out of the blender laughing his head off as he hi-fived a laugh Lampent.

Latios wore an annoyed expression on his face covered in who-knows-what. His eyes gleamed as he reached underneath the table and pulled out a vacuum nozzle.

Rotom took one look at the object in Latios's hand and froze in terror. Latios smirked.

Rotom pushed Lampent out of the way as Latios turned on the vacuum.

"Save yourselfffffffffff…" Rotom shouted as he was sucked in. Lampent could only obey as she quickly floated away.

**000**

"**I am not letting my girlfriend go through that, that hell!" Rotom gasped. "If anyone's gonna suffer, it might as well be someone who already knows what to expect!"**

**000**

Soon, Gardevoir finally let go. Her skin was flushed, both from exhaustion and embarrassment.

Latias looked at the remaining contestants. "Well, time for more prizes then. How does everyone feel about…infinite soft-serve ice cream until the end of the challenge?"

No one let go of the log. Latias frowned.

"How about a warm bubble bath? With how long you guys have been here, you might want one!"

"I do!" Persian shouted.

"Someone that hasn't dropped out."

Again, no one responded.

"…Free ride on Latios's back around the island?"

"Hey! I never agreed to that!"

"Well you just did and if anyone accepts, get ready to make like a jet and fly!"

Still no one responded

Latias's eye twitched. "Well we've run out of rewards now so we're going to try something else."

"Everyone can now run interference. Those of you that have fallen must stay outside of the challenge area."

Spiritomb's eyes gleamed. He gave Cloyster a knowing look. The shell grinned in return.

"ICICLE SPEARS FOR EVERYONE!"

Cloyster began to fire a barrage of Icicle Spears remaining players. Most of the contestants tried to contort their bodies to dodge the icicles being thrown at them.

Zangoose twisted her body to avoid being hit by an icicle. "What the hell? I'm on your team dumbass!" She shouted as she kicked away another.

"THERE IS NO TEAM IN I!"

"That's completely backwards you crazy numbskull!"

"CRAZY IS MY MIDDLE NAME!"

"I can see that!"

"Actually, his name middle name is Crazy. Says it on his birth certificate." Latias said, drinking some lemonade.

"How do you know that?" Gardevoir asked, holding a berry punch.

"We asked for IDs when you signed up remember? Cloyster submitted his birth certificate." Latias explained.

Lampent looked up from her VERY well-done burger. "Why didn't he use a driver's license or passport? I used the latter."

"Do you think any sane person would give Cloyster a passport, or Arceus forbid, a driver's license?"

"…good point."

Eventually, one icicle found its mark, hitting Roserade and knocking her down. Spinarak and Joltik tried their best to swing away from the incoming fire, but the latter was shot down when his web string was cut.

Roserade clutched her side as she sat down. "Why didn't you guys do anything?" She groaned.

"Cloyster's making it difficult for us to aim attacks." Espeon explained. "Besides, he's taking out his own too."

As if on cue, both Altaria and Milotic hit the sand, both of them being the targets of a few too many icicles.

Meanwhile, Lucario, easily dodged the icicles well before they reached him, his eyes completely closed.

**000**

"**I often use my aura during training." Lucario explained. "By closing my eyes, I can detect any material object and react immediately. Swinging logs, falling rocks, Zubat swarms, and even Icicle Spears are child's play."**

**000**

Spiritomb watched Lucario dodge every icicle shot at him.

"Perhaps I should whip up something special for him." He mumbled. He closed his eyes, three small fireballs appearing next to him. They slowly floated towards Lucario. As they got closer, they began to speed up. All of a sudden, they shot towards Lucario's hands, quickly hitting them.

Lucario let out a hiss of pain as his hands were burned instantly upon contact.

Spiritomb smirked. He nudged Cloyster and pointed towards the burned warrior. Cloyster got the message immediately and focused his attacks on Lucario.

Lucario gritted his teeth as he continued to kick away icicles with increased fervor. The pain in his hands was beginning to become unbearable. On top of the burn, he was slowly getting more and more exhausted with the increased pressure.

His grip eventually faltered and he was sent down to the ground. He flinched at the pain in his hands as he got up and snarled.

He stomped toward the cabana area and sat down, no one approached him. He grumbled

He looked at Latios. "Got anything for burns?" He grunted.

Latios fished out a small bowl of Aspear berries. "All yours."

**000**

"**That was a dirty trick they used." Lucario snarled. "I could not detect those flames with my aura and that was how they hit me. I could have easily won this challenge for my team. Know this Spiritomb, I will have my revenge, no matter what."**

"**However, this has revealed a crucial weakness of mine, my over-reliance on my aura. I have to learn not to rely on it. So from now on, I will prevent myself from using it."**

**000**

"And there goes our biggest threat this challenge." Spiritomb mused. "Now for the last two."

"On it!" Cloyster cackled as he fired away.

Spinarak was quickly shot down, and soon Bisharp became the target of the icicles. He easily kicked away a few icicles, but his slow speed made it hard to kick all of them away. He glanced to his right and saw Zangoose struggling, despite not having any icicles going towards her.

An idea flashed in his head. He jabbed the bladed side of his left arm into the bottom of the log, wedging it deep inside. With his free hand, he caught one of the icicles aimed toward him and threw it towards Zangoose.

Zangoose's eyes widened as the projectile approached her.

"Can't let you do that Bisharp." Spiritomb mocked. He focused his powers and stopped the icicle right in front of Zangoose.

Seeing the icicle stop right in front of her, Zangoose let out a sigh of relief. However, cracking noises were soon heard.

Bisharps eyes widened. "I think I may have made one too many holes."

The log split and both remaining contestants fell to the sand with a scream, causing sand to fly into the air.

As the dust settled, Zangoose was seen on her back, a small distance away from the crash site, where Bisharp was in a less comfortable position, his head stuck in the sand.

**000**

"**That was degrading" Bisharp deadpanned.**

**000**

"So who won that?" Joltik asked from Aron's back.

Latias pulled out a calculator. "Well based on the weight of each contestant, multiplied by the effect of gravity, divided by the distance from the ground…" She mumbled as she punched in more numbers into the calculator. As she continued calculating the numbers, she got more and more irritated.

She suddenly threw the calculator behind her and onto the flattop, which caused it to promptly burst into flames.

"Forget numbers! Zangoose let go of the log when it split while Bisharp's arm is still stuck in it. Therefore, Lugias win. Again!"

The Lugias cheered, except for Bisharp who let out a muffled shouted from the sand.

Latias looked at Bisharp. "We should probably get him out before he suffocates and passes out."

**000**

"**I wouldn't mind that." Roserade grumbled.**

**000**

"Ho-oh's, once again, you'll be voting someone off your team. And looking at how many people you have left, you guys need to make a smart decision." The members of the Ho-oh's exchanged worried glances. "Alright, challenge is over, you guys can leave."

As the campers filed out, Latias floated in place for a little bit.

"Sigilyph, you can stop now."

Sigilyph snapped out of his trance-like state and quickly turned towards Latias. "Sorry about that. I take I am not needed anymore?"

"That's correct, you may stay for elimination, but you can head back now if you want."

"Mmmmk. I think I'll head back for now."

As Sigilyph floated away, Latios pulled out his vacuum from under the counter. He hit a button and Rotom came flying out immediately.

"FREEEEDDDDDOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMM!" He shouted as he zoomed away.

**000**

"**This fucking sucks." Zangoose snarled. "We haven't been on this long of a losing streak since the start! At least Persian can help us eliminate someone." **

"**Too bad I can't vote off anyone from the other team. I'll kill that metal head! That's the second time he's pulled off a stunt like that!"**

**000**

"Tonight's target is Altaria." Persian declared to Spiritomb and Cloyster.

Spiritomb raised an eyebrow. "Any particular reason? I do not see any reason why we would vote her off."

"Well, ummm, because…" said a flustered Persian.

"I'm waiting…"Said an irritated Spiritomb.

"Shut up! Give me a second to organize my thoughts!" Persian shouted. "Uhhhh, because there is no reason to vote her off!"

Spiritomb pondered for a moment. "Ah, I see. Due to the number of people left, there will be a potential merge. If Altaria gets to that point, due to her non-threatening presence, she is unlikely to be voted off and. Therefore, it is best we get rid of her now."

"Um, yeah! Let's go with that!" Persian said.

**000**

"**Thank Arceus he came to that conclusion and bought it." Persian sighed. "It might get tough later on to sneak one by him."**

**000**

"**I don't buy it." Spiritomb deadpanned. "She'll try to sneak one by me again I suspect. I should be ready for it though**

**000**

"**WE ARE THE 38% AND WE DEMAND MORE TOFU!" Cloyster shouted.**

**000**

A lone figure was sitting inside their team's cabin. In front of them was a piece of notebook with the names of the remaining contestants.

"Hmmm, the best way to split those guys up would be by removing Rotom." The figure mumbled to itself. "Their bond is strong, I will not be able to split them up through normal means. I should bide my time with that group if that's the case."

"As for those two, Spiritomb is the bigger threat out of them. I have to get rid of him when I get the chance.

"Roserade and Lucario have the potential to get close, I have to keep them at bay. Same goes for Espeon and Absol."

"Zoroark is gone, so Gardevoir shouldn't be too much of a problem. But she has friends here, and will likely gain more if there is a merge. So I should try removing her from the game the next chance I get."

"Spinarak, Joltik, and Aron should pose no threat to me, I'll leave them be. But Milotic and Altaria may pose a bit of a problem. I need to find something I can exploit. The rest of these guys act on their own, no need to bother them."

A knock was heard at the cabin door.

"Yo, anyone in there? The rest of us are getting something to eat, you coming?" Blitzle's voice echoed into the room.

The figure grunted in response. "Go ahead, I'll meet you there later. I'm doing some cleaning."

"Kay."

**000**

"**My plan is to keep everyone distant from each other." The figure explained. "With no collaboration being possible, one's own skill becomes the determining factor in staying or leaving. Either you have to feign being weak, or dominate the rest of the competition in pure skill. The former option is not available since I've demonstrated that I am strong competitor in the past. As such, I will have to steamroll the rest of my competition. After all, might is right."**

**000**

"Welcome to tonight's elimination ceremony. How does it feel to be here again Ho-ohs?" Latais asked.

"All too familiar." Zangoose grumbled.

"Well there were nine of you at the start of today. However, only eight of you will be left after tonight. Tonight's vote, much like the last few as I have been told, was fairly one-sided."

Spiritomb cocked an eyebrow at the statement.

"Let's start with those of you with no votes. Since all of your arms must be tired, I'll toss the Poffins to you all. Zangoose, Cloyster, Spiritomb, and Milotic, open wide!"

All of the Pokémon opened their mouths to catch the Poffins being thrown at them. Cloyster's however, got impaled on his spike.

"Absol, Persian, Aron, you all get one as well." One by one, the three called Pokémon caught their poffins and ate them, though Aron swallowed his whole.

Latias looked at the two remaining Pokémon. "Altaria, and Magneton, both of you received votes tonight."

"Magneton, you seem to be falling off. You were useful for a while but are becoming less and less useful as time passes."

"BZZT. ANGRY RETORT NOT FOUND. EXCUSE NOT FOUND. NO STATEMENT CAN BE MADE AT THIS TIME. BZZT."

"Altaria, I'm more surprised to see you here. You've been doing decently. But perhaps the rest of your team does not think you are pulling your weight?"

Altaria shook her head. "I thought I have been doing well. If I should survive though, I will definitely start trying harder.

"Well either way, one of you two will not be staying here after tonight. Tonight's final Poffin goes to…"

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

"…Magneton."

Altaria's eyes widened in surprise, then hung her head in defeat.

"I am sorry Altaria, but your stay seems to have been cut short. Please pack your things and get ready to leave." Latias said solemnly.

Spiritomb noticed Persian smirking out of the corner of his eye. He followed her gaze to Milotic wearing an anguished expression. The gears in his head turned, putting all the information he gathered into place. Suddenly, everything clicked, Spiritomb's face scrunching in anger.

**000**

"**Damn that woman, so that's what she's been playing at." Spiritomb snarled. "The seemingly one-sided votes, the 'friendliness' towards Milotic, we've all been puppets in her plan to break Milotic."**

"**Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. It's time I return the favor."**

**000**

"**Seems that one of my problems has been taken care of." A figure said in the confessional. "Good, this will allow me to focus on others."**

**000**

Altaria stood on the dock with Latios. Only Milotic went to see Altaria off. The two hugged.

"I'm going to miss you, you know." Milotic whispered. "You've been helping out a lot after what happened. I don't know if I can keep going if you're gone too."

"Hey stay strong for Serprior and the rest of us. Don't go throwing the towel yet. Beside, Persian's still here to help you."

Milotic sniffed. "Yeah, I guess. Say hi to others for me."

Altaria nodded. "I will." She turned to Latios. "Let's go then."

Latios nodded. "Alright, then, let's get your stuff in the boat and-Sigilyph, what are you still doing here."

The avianoid jumped in surprise and turned towards the co-host. "Oh sorry about that Latios. I was going to go back but the view here was so great that I was just entranced by looking at it."

Latios rolled his eyes. "Whatever, we're leaving now."

As the boat left the dock, both Milotic and Altaria waved at each other. When Altaria was no longer in sight, Milotic curled up and sniffled.

**000**

"**I am really surprised that I was eliminated." Altaria said. "It's unfortunate and at a really bad time, but I suppose certain things happen for a reason. I just hope Milotic stays strong and wins it for the rest of us."**

**000**

Lucario walked to his team's cabin. The rest of his team members were sitting around talking to one another. As Lucario walked up the steps to the deck, Gardevoir signaled him over.

"Hey, do you happen have some time to talk today?"

Lucario shook his head. "No, I need some time to meditate over what happened earlier today."

"Please? I really need to talk to you about-"

"Gardevoir, please." Lucario growled. "I need some time to myself."

"But Lucario I-"

"Good night." Lucario grunted as he slammed the door to the men's side of the cabin. There was a small period of silence.

Stunfisk broke the silence. "Sheesh, what's up with grumpylumps over there?"

Espeon shrugged. "Maybe he's not happy with himself?"

Kingdra nodded. "I expect that's the case."

Spinarak tilted her head. "And why is that?"

"We may have won but it seems he expected a better performance from himself. Had Latias not allowed interference, he may have easily gotten us the victory."

"Well he better get over it." Bisharp said, leaning on a railing. "We cannot have one of the stronger members of our team stay down like this. Look at Zoroark."

Gardevoir was about to open her mouth, but a cold glare from Bisharp silenced her. She looked to Kingdra and Roserade for support. Both shook their heads, though Roserade did give Bisharp a disapproving glance.

**000**

"**One ultimatum I made when the war council disbanded was that no one says a single word about our involvement in it." Bisharp said. "No matter what, if a people hear of a secret group within a community, they are bound to be suspicious of that group, even if it no longer exists." **

"'**What were these people doing?' 'Why was I not a part of this?' 'Can they still be trusted?' These kinds of questions will populate the mind of those excluded. People get suspicious, no one will trust anyone. As a result, any structure, no matter how stable, will crumble."**

**000**

As Lucario entered the room, he immediately noticed something amiss. One of the drawers with his belongings was open. He rushed over and opened it to check that nothing was stolen. Next to some sports bandages was the immunity idol he had found. He let out a sigh of relief seeing it secure, but immediately tensed when he saw a folded piece of paper underneath.

He opened it up. The paper only had one word on it.

"Beware"

Lucario looked around the room, he saw no one. He was about to close his eyes, he mentally chided himself, he could not rely on his aura all the time. Quietly, he crumpled the paper and threw it into the trash.

At the same time, someone glanced inside the room. Seeing that Lucario received their message, they grinned and returned to their conversation outside.

* * *

><p><strong>Altaria has been eliminated, and the final pawn in Persian's game has been removed, what's next?<strong>

**Originally, I was going to have Altaria reveal Persian's dealings, but I decided against it, what I have planned is much more interesting. She was also planned to be a love interest for Kingdra, but that idea was scrapped as well. I didn't think I could make anything of it.**

**Altaria: Please review for me, this story, and everyone in it!**

**Next Time: One Pokémon tells all about a devious plot, while another is gets into heated argument with their team. Mistakes are made and one Pokémon pays the price, but not before a shocking revelation. Oh and the challenge involves Slender. Yay!**


	16. Slender: Pokemon Drama Island Edition

**I totally didn't plan on having a Slender-based challenge on Halloween. Yup. Totally coincidental. **

**More votes would help in deciding whether or not I should do the rewrites. I've got 6 votes now. That's 3x more than what I had before!**

* * *

><p>"Last time on Pokémon Drama Island!" Latias shouted. "We had the campers hang from a log. Simple, right? Well it turns out it wasn't. After being bribed by yours truly people began dropping like flies, figuratively mind you. After a bit of chaos provided by our resident nutcase, the Lugias ended up the victors, and the Ho-ohs ended up the big losers. Again. Altaria was sent home, but not before Spiritomb figured out Persian's scheme. Clever. Meanwhile someone's over on the Lugias is plotting and has only started their reign of potential terror. Tonight, what unspeakable horrors will we unleash on our campers? Tune in to find out right here on Pokémon! Drama! Island!"<p>

**000**

It was evening as the campers filed in to the mess hall, waiting for information on their next challenge.

**000**

"**There's something in the air…" Espeon said quietly. "Tonight's going to be interesting."**

**000**

"Hey Latios, we're hungry!" Zangoose shouted as she kicked the door open.

Not a sound came from the kitchen. In fact the whole building was completely silent.

"He isn't here?" Spinarak said as she looked around.

"That would be the safest guess," Kingdra said as he and the rest of the campers filed in.

Rotom gave a sideways glance at Lampent, "Do you think that peanut butter trap affected him that much?"

Lampent shrugged, "Only if he's allergic, which I doubt. Saw him add peanuts to a couple salads during the food challenge."

Most of the campers decided to sit down or stand around, waiting for Latios to come in and cook.

Gardevoir sat down across from Lucario, "Roserade told me what happened in the woods two challenges ago."

Lucario grunted, "I see, did she ask you to talk to me and convince me?"

Gardevoir shook her head, "No. I came up with the idea myself. I'm only here to say that what Roserade said is true."

"And your feelings for Zoroark?"

Gardevoir jumped in surprise at his question.

Lucario closed his eyes, "I see. Zoroark was quite the enigma. He was quite active early on but was never the same after the fear challenge. Do you know why?"

Gardevoir regained her composure and nodded, "I do, but I promised him I would not tell anyone else."

Lucario was quiet for a few minutes, "Sorry, but I am still skeptical."

Gardevoir looked at Lucario in surprise, "Why?"

"You see, his elimination was the catalyst for why our group got so distant. Roserade siding with you when we split shows how much she trusts you. However, you are the only one who knows why Zoroark's performance went downhill. Depending on what that was, you could have seen a reason as to why he was not useful."

Gardevoir was at a loss for words. She grit her teeth and silently got out of her seat and left, her hands shaking.

**000**

"**Are you kidding me?" Gardevoir said exasperatedly. "He is suspecting me of voting off Zoroark! That is ridiculous! Now I see why Roserade was so frustrated with him."**

**000**

"**Ever since the hiding spot for my immunity idol was found, I've been wary," Lucario explained. "Someone knows more about me than I think, and I will not rest until I learn who it is."**

**000**

Gardevoir sat down and put her hand on her temple. Roserade sat down next to her.

"I take it that it didn't go well?" she asked.

"Worse," Gardevoir groaned. "He now thinks that I was the one who voted off Zoroark."

"What? That sucks…." Roserade slowly turned toward Gardevoir. "But did you?"

"Of course not!" Gardevoir turned toward her friend in horror. "Why would you even ask that?"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, my fault, shouldn't have said that," Gardevoir quickly calmed down. "But what should we do now?"

"Either slowly convince him or hope for a miracle." Gardevoir commented dryly.

Aron's stomach suddenly let out a loud growl, causing everyone to stare at him. He blushed in embarrassment, "I'm sorry, I'm just hungry!"

"Then go see if the kitchen door is unlocked," Kingdra said. "Perhaps there is something in there that you can eat."

Aron nodded and jumped off the table and walked over to the door, pushing it open. He hopped on one of the counters and saw a set of recently cleaned silverware.

Yipping for joy, he began eating, the sounds of his munching not going unnoticed by the rest of the contestants.

"Well at least he's happy," Zangoose grumbled from the dining room.

Little did Aron know, a figure slowly approached from behind, four tendrilss reaching for the little Pokémon. It inched closer and closer until it was in reach to grab the Pokémon.

In a quick, fluid motion, the figure grabbed Aron and covered his mouth. The little Pokémon let out a muffled shout as he dropped the fork he was eating.

The figure quickly retreated and left kitchen out of the back door, slamming it shut.

The noise coming from the kitchen startled a couple of the campers. They looked at each other in confusion.

"Did Aron fall off the counter or something?" Espeon asked.

"I'll go check it out," Bisharp said as he got out of his seat.

He opened the door to the kitchen, expecting to see the small Steel-type munching on a spoon or knife. Instead, he saw no one and a piece of paper on the counter. He picked up the paper and looked at it. On the paper were, what he assumed, crudely drawn trees and something resembling a stick figure. Thinking it was important he held on to it as he went back into the dining area.

"Hey guys!" he said, grabbing everyone's attention. "Aron's gone missing." A few gasps were heard.

"Nooooooooo, he was so young!" Spinarak wailed.

"He's missing, not dead," Stunfisk pointed out flatly.

"Oh right."

Bisharp held up the paper in his hand, "I also found this note in the kitchen. Don't know if it means anything though." He set it down on the table for everyone to look at.

Most people looked at it with confused looks, dismissing it as a children's drawing. A few people however had serious looks on their faces.

"Ugh, this seems familiar but I just don't remember where…" Blitzle groaned.

"Yeah, I swear it's in the back of my mind somewhere," Zangoose grunted.

"Ditto," Rotom nodded.

"Perhaps I've seen it, perhaps I haven't. We are nothing more than Klinks in the machine!" Cloyster declared.

Everyone stared at Cloyster for a few seconds.

"So he probably doesn't know anything," Rotom said. A chorus of agreement followed.

"BZZT. STARTING PHOTOANALYSIS SOFTWARE VERSION 0.9.7. SCANNING PHOTO. COMPARING WITH IMAGE DATABASE…MATCH FOUND. REDIRECTING TO SOURCE…PICTURE SOURCE IS FROM THE GAME SLENDER: THE EIGHT PAGES. BZZT."

The others looking at the pages, except Cloyster, slapped themselves in realization, muttering various versions of "Of course!"

Spiritomb looked around, "Since that's settled, let us get the challenge started then."

Persian looked at him quizzically, "What do you mean? We were never told that we were having a challenge."

Spiritomb scoffed, "Let us see, hosts are not present, one of us gets kidnapped, find a piece of paper with a drawing on it, and find out it is from a game." He turned to the group that was looking at the paper. "Am I correct in assuming that there are eight pages in total?" he saw them nod in return. "That means there are seven pages left, an odd number. If we take those facts into consideration, we can assume that this challenge will be based on that Slender game, where whichever team collects more pages wins. Anything else that we should know about this game?"

"Not much, except a faceless white guy will come and chase you while you're colleting pages," Blitzle answered.

"And there's our other gimmick. Someone will try to capture us while we're searching, so it's best to go as a group. I believe that should be everything. Correct?" he said, emphasizing the last word.

"What was that for?" Espeon asked.

"Oh nothing, just hoping I would get the message across," Spiritomb said, looking at the ceiling from the corner of his eye.

**000**

In an outdoor tent, Latias and Latios were looking at multiple screens showing different parts of the island. Currently they were focused on the monitor that showed Spiritomb looking straight at them.

"Dang, he's good," Latias commented.

"Well we can't really do anything about it at this point. Should we continue with the challenge?" Latios asked, removing a large piece of bubblegum from his arms.

Latias nodded, "Might as well. Even though we can't do anything about it, they can't either." She looked at Latios removing large splotches of bubblegum from his body. "Still having trouble getting all of that off?"

Latios grunted in annoyance, "I swear I'll kill Rotom and his girlfriend someday."

Latios waved her hand, "Whatever. Is everything set up though?"

Latios nodded, "Pages are in place, and A should be back any second now."

As if on cue, someone teleported into the tent. It was dressed in a large black tuxedo, with very long legs and arms, their head completely white. Aron was tucked in its arm like a football, who was gently let down onto the ground of the tent.

Aron looked around frantically, trying to figure out where he was. He noticed two familiar faces in Latias and Latios and jumped towards them. The little Pokémon collided into Latios, causing him to let out a grunt of pain.

"I think that was my kidney," He wheezed.

"Oh suck it up," said the figure. She grabbed the top of its head and pulled, removing a white mask. Her face was a mix of blue and orange with her head having three points jutting out from the top and upper left and right sides, "I thought Meloetta beat you up enough so that you would resist pain."

"Bite me A," Latios coughed.

"I'd rather not. Though I think Meloetta might," A said with a snicker. Latios coughed again.

Aron's eyes continued to dart left and right, "Who? What? Why? How? Where am I?"

"Calm down Aron, you're safe here, it's all part of the challenge," Latias said.

"Challenge?"

"Yup, let me introduce our friend here," Latias pointed to the Pokémon in the tuxedo, "This is Deoxys – Attack, though we just call her A to distinguish her from her siblings," A waved, "She's helping out by trying to capture you guys and bringing you here to the Loser's Tent."

"Oh," the little Pokémon relaxed, "So what now?"

"Well…" A began, "How would you like to see me scare the pants off everyone here?"

**000**

One by one, the campers filed out of the dining hall. They quickly grouped into their teams.

"We will search together, no sense in going alone. Make sure we move swiftly," Spiritomb instructed. Everyone else on the team quickly agreed.

The Lugias had different plans.

"We split into four groups of three," Bisharp said. "We have a numbers advantage so we can easily split up and cover more area quickly."

"Me, Blitzle and Lampent can be a group," Rotom said quickly.

"And I'll babysit Joltik and Spinarak," Stunfisk drawled.

Roserade was about to speak, until Gardevoir's hand put a hand on her shoulder.

"Me and Roserade will form a group and Espeon will join us." Gardevoir declared.

Roserade looked at Gardevoir in surprise. Gardevoir lowered her voice to a whisper, "Right now isn't the best time to talk to him, it will only distract from the challenge, wait until afterward. Besides, we can tell Espeon on what's going on, maybe she will have advice."

Roserade pondered a minute before nodding.

Bisharp looked around, "I guess that leaves me with Lucario and Kingdra."

"Very well, as soon as you find a paper, head straight back to the dorms. If you guys can't find one after 90 minutes, come straight back, hopefully we have enough so that we have the majority. Now let's move."

As the Lugias split up, Spiritomb looked at them and shook his head.

**000**

"**When it comes to anything with a horror theme, like movies, games, or books, the ones who survive stay in a large group, they never leave a pack." Spiritomb explained. "The fewer the people, the more likely you'll get picked off."**

**000**

The Ho-Ohs decided on a general path around the island. Magneton lead, his eyes shining a light in front of the team. As they walked, Persian moved next to Milotic.

"Look, I'm really sorry about what happened," Persian said in the most compassionate way she could, "I really thought I could convince other people to vote for Spiritomb."

Spiritomb heard his name and focused his hearing on Persian's conversation

"It's fine…" Milotic whispered in a depressed voice, "It's just hard you know? Having my best friends leave one after another in such quick succession. It hurts more than I expected it to."

Persian smirked evilly before patting Milotic on her back, "There, there, you still have me right? I promise that you won't be the one leaving anytime soon."

Persian began moving ahead while Milotic stayed behind. Spiritomb slowly dropped his pace so he was next to Milotic.

"I wouldn't trust Persian if I were you," he whispered to Milotic.

Milotic looked at him, "What do you mean?"

"I mean she isn't what she seems."

Milotic stared at Spiritomb, obviously confused. As he was about to explain, Absol's voice cut him off.

"I see something by the challenge shack. Follow me."

Spritomb looked at Milotic, "I'll explain all the details later, too many people here right now. I just wish to warn you of impending danger."

Spiritomb went ahead with the rest of the team, leaving a confused Milotic.

**000**

"**Don't trust Persian?" Milotic said, "Does he know something that the rest of us don't?"**

"**Then again, he is quite smart, I wouldn't be surprised if he did."**

**000**

Lucario, Bisharp and Kingdra walked in silence through the woods. Since the picture they had found depicted trees, they thought that their best bet would be somewhere in the woods.

All three were quiet, neither one of them wanting to talk to the two others.

Bisharp heard rustling to his left and quickly turned towards it.

Both Kingdra and Lucario looked in the same direction, seeing nothing.

"That is the third time that you have reacted to nothing," Kingdra remarked.

"You can never be too careful," Bisharp answered. "Since Lucario isn't going to use his aura abilities, we have to rely on our other senses in order look out for ourselves."

"I've been meaning to ask, why is that?" Kingdra said, looking at Lucario. "What reason could you have as to block off one of your most powerful tools?"

Lucario grunted, "My hands could have avoided being burnt during the last challenge. While I can detect solid objects when I focus with my aura, I can't do the same with incorporeal objects, like ghost fires. I was not confident that I could dodge all the icicles with my eyesight alone, but if my eyes were actually open, I could have avoided those fires."

"So you are now blaming yourself for something that you believe could have been avoided, when in reality it may not have been avoidable?" Kingdra concluded.

"I know what my body is capable of and what it can or can't do. If I say I could have avoided those ghost fires, then it I could have."

"You overestimate yourself. It may be possible to avoid a well-aimed Will-O-Wisp, but it is very hard to do."

"I know I can so stop trying to change my mind," Lucario growled. "I am going to sharpen my other senses and not rely on aura."

Kingdra rolled his eyes, "You are as stubborn as a Ponyta, you know that?"

"Ssssssshhhh, quiet," Bisharp said in a low whisper. "I hear someone nearby."

The three hid behind trees and peeked out to see who Bisharp was talking about. In the distance, they saw a purple flame pass by.

"Looks like Lampent," Lucario commented, "Seems like they are looking around over there."

"Then we should double back and head in a different direction," Bisharp stated, "The less area that is covered between two groups the better."

As the three headed back the way they came, a Kingdra realized something was amiss.

"Strange, why wasn't Rotom nearby?" he mumbled quietly.

**000**

"Why isn't Lampent back yet?" Blitzle groaned.

"Well it does take a while for a lady to powder their nose." Rotom commented.

The two were standing by a couple of fallen logs and random rocks. Lampent nowhere in sight.

"Well it's taking a bit too long for my liking," Blitzle said. "Maybe she got lost?"

Rotom waved a hand in dismissal, "Nah she's smart enough for that to not happen. We made marks on the trees on the way here so she can follow those."

Blitzle shrugged, "You're right, maybe we should head back to camp though? We'll likely meet up on the way back."

"But what if we miss her and she comes back and doesn't see us?"

"Carve something in the logs. If she comes back here, she'll know we're back at camp."

Rotom nodded, "Sounds like a plan," he picked up a nearby rock and slowly etched the words 'Back camp w8ing 4 u'.

"Alright, let's go."

**000**

"I honestly doubt one of those papers is in the sand." Stunfisk deadpanned.

The trio of Stunfisk, Spinarak and Joltik decided to look around the edge of the island, starting with the beach.

"Well it's a better place than any to start," Spinarak explained. "Plus, we will see that slander guy come from a mile away."

"Slender," Stunfisk corrected. "Maybe we should try the woods? Since that picture was of the woods?"

"But everyone is already looking there," Joltik reasoned. "We need to spread out. Cover more ground as Bisharp said."

Stunfisk thought about what Joltik said, "You've got a point there. Fine, we'll stick to this plan. But let's move somewhere else, we won't find anything here."

**000**

"**It always surprises me how smart some of the people here are," Stunfisk commented, "You wouldn't guess it from appearance or mannerisms, but Joltik's a year older than Kingdra. I don't get it either."**

**He looked up at noticed something, "Hey, is that…?"**

**000**

Stunfisk bounded out of the confessional, holding a piece of paper in his hands.

"Got to get back to the kids, though they might have gotten caught already for all I know," Stunfisk mumbled as he headed back toward the beach.

He heard a rustling noise behind him and turned around. Right behind him was a tall figure with long arms and a white head. Four tendrils appeared behind the figure, floating ominously.

Stunfisk froze in place and the tendrils shot towards him.

"Man, I've seen enough hentai to know where this is going," he said out loud before his vision went dark, dropping the paper in the process.

**000**

"**In hindsight, those are not the best last words I could have said," Stunfisk pointed out.**

**000**

A stared at the flopping fish in her grasp, "Really? That's what he chooses to say?" she mumbled. "Latios was right, some of these guys do have a few screws loose."

A quickly teleported back to the Loser's Tent and tossed Stunfisk on the ground and pulled off her mask. Latias stared at A with a scowl on her face.

"Did you have to capture him first?"

A shrugged, "Hey, he just happened to be nearby. You did say grab anyone I could find, and lookie here, I found that guy."

Latias's scowl darkened, before she turned back to the monitors.

A looked down at Stunfisk who was being filled in on all the details by Latios, "I take it you two have some history?"

Stunfisk looked back up at A, "Lady, you have no idea."

**000**

"Good call coming to the rental shack," Spiritomb said. "Two more of these papers and victory is secured."

The Ho-ohs stood in a circle outside the shack from the modified triathlon challenge. After finding their first paper by the challenge shack, Zangoose suggested they head toward the rental shack.

Zangoose gave a dismissive hand wave, "Nah, it was nothing. Had a gut feeling there would be one over here."

"But you played the game, right?" Absol asked. "Do you remember some detail that could help us?"

Zangoose frowned, "Not really, all my friends were screaming at the top of their lungs like little girls while I played. You don't tend to notice details when you're telling people to shut up every ten seconds."

Absol looked at Magneton, "How about you Magneton, any noticeable similarities between page locations?"

"BZZT. ASSESSING QUERY…GENERATING RESPONSE. AFFIRMATIVE. PAGES WERE LOCATED ON IN-GAME STRUCTURES AND LANDMARKS. CONCLUSION: LANDMARKS HAVE A HIGHER CHANCE OF FINDING PAGES. BZZT."

"I guess that settles it, we are going to the camps landmarks," Persian said. "Wherever those are."

"The desert heat makes for great companionship when alone and thirsty!"

Everyone stared at Cloyster, who smiled and eye twitched.

Spiritomb's eyes widended, "He has a point, one of our challenges was in the desert."

"So we head that way then, I guess," Milotic mumbled.

The Ho-ohs left, with Cloyster taking up the rear. Suddenly, he tripped and fell, open-shell first.

He quickly jumped back up, swallowing whatever was in his mouth.

"Tastes like brown," he mumbled. He tried jumping forward again, only to fall, this time on his left side.

"I have ouchies," he said. He looked up to see a figure in a black suit standing in front of him.

"Hi, are you with Pokémon for the Ethical Treatment of Remoraids?" he asked, before his vision went black.

**000**

"**When we realized we left Cloyster behind, it was too late," Spiritomb said, "We tried going back, but he wasn't there."**

**000**

"**And nothing of value was lost." Zangoose said matter-of-factly.**

**000**

A looked at the struggling shellfish, "You know I thought I saw everything during my travels," she breathed, "This one takes the cake in the weird category."

She quickly teleported back to the tent to drop off Cloyster.

"Any new stragglers?" A asked Latias.

"Not that I've seen," Latias responded. "There might be someone near section 3 though."

"Gotcha," A said, "I'll head over there then."

A quickly teleported to where Blitzle and Rotom were before. She didn't see anyone in the immediate vicinity and decided to wait behind a tree. Less than a minute later she heard a voice.

"Those boys, can't they sit still?" Lampent groaned.

She was looking at the message carved in the planned meeting spot, "Guess I'm heading back then."

As Lampent turned around she noticed a tall figure standing before her. She froze and stared at the imposing figure. Four black tendrils loomed above, poised to strike.

Before she could even cry out, the tendrils wrapped themselves around her mouth and eyes, muffing her shouts and covering her vision.

"You are mine," A snickered, as she teleported back to the Loser's Tent.

"That was quick," Latias commented upon seeing A return. "I thought it would take longer given the type disadvantage."

A removed the mask, "I may be a psychic, but I can kick a ghost's ass any day of the week," she declared.

"That's not what D said…" Latios mumbled.

A's eyes widened, "That bastard! He said he wouldn't tell! D is so gonna get it when I see him again."

"Hey A, I found more victims in sections 8 and 9," Latias said, interrupting A's train of thought

A quickly put her mask back on, "Yeah, I hear ya. Later."

As A teleported out, Latias looked at Latios.

"What was that about?" she asked.

"D told me about a fight between A and Giratina back in senior year," Latios explained.

Latias raised an eyebrow, "Did Giratina bring-"

"No. A would probably have backed out immediately if he did."

"Can someone please tell me what's going on here?" Lampent shouted, clearly completely confused.

**000**

"And that's why we need your help with Lucario," Roserade explained to Espeon. She had just finished telling the cat about her and Gardevoir's unsuccessful attempts at convincing Lucario.

"Well that's quite the tale if I've ever heard one," Espeon responded. "And why me?"

"You're helping Absol right? We don't mind even though he's on the other team, but maybe you could help out our team before things could get worse?" Roserade said

"Absol is a bit of a different case," Espeon explained, "I feel bad for loners so I like to try and help them out. That, and I have a bit of a personal stake in it."

"Does that mean you won't help us?" Gardevoir asked.

Espeon shook her head, "I never said I wouldn't help you did I? If Lucario keeps his act up, it would kind of destroy the team's dynamic. So, what do you want me to do?"

"Talk to Lucario, try to convince him, or better yet, see why he can't trust us," Roserade said.

Espeon shook her head, "Given what you told me, I'd do more harm than good."

As if anticipating Roserade's next question, Espeon continued, "What you are trying to do is brute force your way to get Lucario to trust you. By suddenly having more people try to convince him, he will either trust you less, or pretend that he trusts you when he in reality, he is extremely suspicious."

"What do you suggest then?" Roserade asked, slight desperation in her voice.

"Wait it out. Let your actions convince him."

"But time isn't on our side!" Roserade exclaimed. "Any faster suggestions?"

"Jump him."

"Espeon!"

"I kid. However, you should be direct with him. Be forceful. Don't hold back as much, let it go."

**000**

"**Communication is key in any relationship," Espeon explained, "Be completely honest with one another, no subtle messages."**

"**Practice what you preach!" Roserade shouted from outside.**

**Espeon blushed, "I know that!"**

**000**

"So how should I do that?" Roserade asked.

"I suggest-ack!"

Espeon fell on the ground. Roserade and Gardevoir quickly moved over to check on her.

"You alright?"Gardevoir asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Espeon responded. "Something feels like it's tugging on my legs though."

As she spoke, Espeon was slowly dragged backwards towards some dense foliage.

Espeon paled, "Girls, help!"

Roserade and Garedovir quickly grabbed her front paws and began to pull.

In the bushes, A was pulling on Espeon's back paws. She quickly felt another force pull her prey forward.

"They're putting up a bit of a fight," she grunted, "Well me winning the annual rope pull by myself wasn't all for show!"

A tugged hard and the three Lugias flew into the bushes. Before they had time to register what happened, A covered their eyes and returned to the tent.

**000**

The trio of Lucario, Bisharp, and Kingdra continued to walk through the woods. The only drawing they had found was the one Stunfisk had dropped early on.

"We've already combed through this area," Kingdra stated. "It would be futile to go through it again."

"How do you know?" Lucario snapped back.

Kingdra motioned toward a nearby tree, "I marked that tree earlier to indicate that we passed through."

Lucario looked at the trunk and saw an ink on it.

"If that's the case, we need to head somewhere else," Bisharp declared.

A rustling noise was heard nearby and the trio whirled around to see the source. As the sound grew louder, Bisharp brandished his blades, Lucario got into a fighting stance, and Kingdra readied a Water Gun.

A small figure popped out of the bushes. It saw the three Pokémon who ready to attack.

"Wow, I never felt so unwelcome," Spinarak said.

Upon seeing it was a familiar face, the three Pokémon relaxed.

"Sorry about that," Kingdra said. "Potential attacker and whatnot."

He looked around. "Where's Stunfisk and Joltik?"

"I'm up here!" Joltik shouted as he let himself down from a branch. "I can now stay completely calm if I stay within ten feet of someone I know!"

"What happens when someone is outside that range?" Bisharp asked.

"I freak out and curl up into a tiny ball."

"Ah."

"As for Stunfisk," Spinarak interrupted. "He went to go to the confessional but never returned."

"He's probably been taken in that case," Bisharp concluded. "Any luck finding one of those papers?"

Spinarak nodded, "Yeah, found it by the elimination ceremony pit. We were thinking of checking the dock next but then we ran into you guys."

"In that case, hold on to ours," Bisharp said, giving the paper the trio had found to Spinarak. "Someone may have arrived back at camp with a paper already."

"Got it! Come on Joltik, we're going back!" Spinarak crawled back into the bushes while Joltik rappelled back up to the branch.

**000**

"Well that's another paper down, one more and we'll finally win another challenge," Spiritomb declared.

Upon getting to the desert, they had quickly found the next paper in the sand.

"Where next?" Absol asked.

"We never really checked the main campground, maybe there's something there," Zangoose suggested.

"BZZT. I AM IN AGREEMENT. BZZT." Magneton beeped.

Spiritomb nodded, "That is a good suggestion."

The Lugias quickly left, Magneton and Zangoose trotting behind.

"You know, they'd be running around like a bunch of headless Torchics without us," Zangoose said cockily.

"BZZT. AFFIR-_fzzzt_-IVE. BZZT."

Zangoose raised an eyebrow at Magneton, "Is something wrong?"

"BZZT. CHE-_fzzzt_-G OPERATIN-_fzzzt_-TEMS. NO ABN-_fzzzt_-IES DETECT-_fzzzt_-ZZT."

Zangoose continued to stare at Magneton, "Yeah something is definitely wrong, you're going a static-mmmph!"

Zangoose was cut off as a black tendril wrapped itself around her mouth. Her eyes wide, she tried to pull off the tendril.

"BZZT. HEAT SI-fzzt-URE DETEC-_fzzt-_EAT SIGNITURE DETETeeeedddddddddd…" Magneton powered down, before landing in the sand with a dull thud.

Zangoose's pupils shrank as she saw Magneton fall. She let out a muffled scream before her eyes were covered by another tendril.

**000**

"**I never get scared, not easily anyway," Zangoose said. "My friends have tried everything to freak me out. Have me play horror games, jumpscares, or ambush me in masks."**

**She chuckled, "That last one didn't end well for them."**

**000**

A picked up Magneton with a spare arm, "Huh, that wasn't as bad as they made it out to be."

She quickly teleported back to the tent and released Zangoose and Magneton. As Zangoose regained her breath, A removed her mask and tossed a small device to Latios.

"The jammer worked like a charm. Bagged another one while I was at it."

"But how are we going to get him up, that's the question," Latias said, pointing to Magneton who was being poked by Aron.

A shrugged, "Do what I do when my electronics are broken, slap it a couple times."

Latias scoffed, "Please, as if it will ever wor-"

WHAM!

A slammed a tendril onto Magneton causing everyone in the tent to jump in surprise. Nothing happened.

"As I was saying there's no way that-"

Magneton suddenly whirred to life and resumed floating. It turned left and right a couple times looking at its surroundings.

A smirked, "You were saying? Nothing's wrong."

"Hey Magneton, you feeling alright?" Aron asked.

Magneton continued to look around before speaking.

"BZZT. HOLA A TODOS, ME LLAMO MAGNETON. ¿QUE SO TODOS USTEDES Y DONDE ESTOY? BZZT."

Everyone stared blankly at Magneton.

"Spanish," Gardevoir stated blankly. "He's speaking Spanish."

"Hang on, I can fix this," A said.

WHAM!

"BZZT." Magneton beeped, "LES DÉGÂTS CAUSÉS. SYSTÈME D'ALLER EN RÉPARATION. BZZT."

"French," Espeon chimed in.

WHAM!

"BZZT. WEITER-"

WHAM!

"ダメージ-"

WHAM!

"检测-"

WHAM!

"REPARATIONER-"

WHAM!

"PUÒ-"

WHAM!

"BYĆ-"

WHAM!

"필요. BZZT."

A had to catch her breath, "This may take longer than expected."

**000**

"Okay, where is Lampent? We've been waiting for at least an hour at this point," Blitzle complained.

"Yeah, even I think this getting a bit ridiculous," Rotom said.

"She's probably gotten caught if it's taken her this long," Blitzle said. "I have to use the john, watch the outside for me?" Blitzle said as he left. Rotom nodded.

Blitzle went inside the bathroom and opened one of the stalls. As he closed the door, he noticed something on the back of the door.

"Aw sweet, one of the papers we need! Hey Rotom, come in here for a minute!"

"Blitzle, you're my friend and all, but I do not want to see your business-"

"Not that, I found one of the papers!"

Rotom floated into the bathroom where Blitzle was.

"Aww dude, you weren't kidding, that's awesome!"

"Yeah, you think you can hold on to it? I still gotta go."

"Do what you gotta do," Rotom said as he held the paper in his arms and floated away.

**000**

Spinarak and Joltik both reached the main camp but didn't see anyone.

"Huh, guess we're the first ones back," Joltik commented.

"Yeah, so do we wait here or what?" Spinarak said. "Wait, I see someone coming over."

The two saw the familiar glow of Rotom approach and waved. The two electric types saw and rushed over.

"Hey, you guys are back?" Blitzle looked around. "So Stunfisk got caught?"

"Yup," Spinarak responded. "Same could be said for Lampent I assume."

"Well she kind of went off on her own so she was asking for it," Rotom said sheepishly.

**000**

"**He has the nerve to blame me after leaving our meeting place?" Lampent shouted incredulously, "Rotom, me and you are gonna have a long chat later tonight."**

**000**

"So did you guys find anything?" Joltik asked.

"Yeah, this." Rotom held up his paper. "Found it in one of the stalls. How about you two?"

Spinarak raise an arm, holding her papers. "Ta-da!"

Blitzle and Rotom gave the two arachnids a confused look.

"Spinarak, those are sticks, not papers." Blitzle said

"What?" Spinarak looked at the objects in her hand. Indeed, the two objects she was holding were sticks, not the papers.

She and Joltik looked at each other wide-eyed.

"Uh-oh," they said in unison.

**000**

"**Whoops!" Spinarak exclaimed.**

**000**

"It seems we lost two more," Milotic muttered.

"Gee, when did you notice?" Persian said beside her, voice brimming with disdain.

Milotic flinched at the words, causing Persian to soften the look on her face, "Sorry, I didn't mean that. I'm just a little frustrated since we have no idea where we're going and we haven't seen a single paper yet."

"That's true, I hope we find another soon," Milotic mumbled.

Persian rolled her eyes.

**000**

"**Ugh, I don't like being this nice to her." Persian said, "Yeah sure I expected that I would have to, but she's way too sensitive to every little thing."**

"**On the bright side, if she gets even more depressed, she'll be an easy target to vote off, and that's when I crush her spirits completely."**

**000**

Absol noticed something out of the corner of his eye, "Hey, what that over there?" he said, pointing to something on the ground.

**000**

"What do you mean you lost them?" Bisharp shouted.

Bisharp and his group had just come from the docks with a paper they found underneath the docks. They had thought they had a good chance of winning, until Spinarak dropped the bomb on them.

"I'm sorry, it was an accident!" She shouted.

"Of course it was an accident, how could you lose something on purpose? Ugh!" Bisharp pinched his forehead, this was not what he wanted to hear.

"Hey, calm down," Kingdra said sternly. "The more we argue, the more time we waste not looking for those missing papers."

Bisharp took a deep breath, "You're right, your right. I'm fine. Let's just take our time and look for those last two pages. They're probably near-"

A loud screeching noise blared over the intercoms.

"Attention everyone, the challenge is over!" Latias's voice echoed. "The Ho-ohs have won the challenge by finding the majority of the pages and are safe tonight. Lugias, I will see you at elimination. Now vote whoever you would like to see go!"

Bisharp's eye twitched. Spinarak and Joltik gulped nervously.

**000**

Milotic met Spiritomb in a small clearing.

"So, you said you wanted to explain yourself?" Milotic asked.

Spiritomb nodded, "Let me preface this by saying that I have collaborated with Persian in the past."

"Collaborated? As in an alliance?"

"Yes. I will say I had certain aspirations and found a few allies, one of which was Persian. However, she had other plans and betrayed my group."

"Who else was in it?"

"I will not divulge their names to protect their integrity. Know that I was the ringleader and she was part of the troupe."

"Now, as I was saying, she had betrayed my group. Since we both held information on each other we held a temporary truce."

Spiritomb turned away from Milotic, "Now this is where you come in Milotic. Soon after your evolution, Persian approached me with the offer of a new alliance. I was hesitant at first but after seeing her success, I reluctantly joined and helped her in voting off Sawk," He heard a small gasp behind him. "I assume it was around this time that she also approached you for an alliance, correct?"

"Y-yeah, she said that she could get me, Altaria, Sawk and Serperior into the finals," Milotic said, her voice trembling, "And she was so friendly about it too."

Spiritomb shook his head, "I must praise her acting skills. That I am afraid, was likely, a lie. Persian confided to me that she hated you Milotic, hated your beauty as it exceeded her own."

"With Serpeiror's elimination, as you know, Cloyster became immune from votes thanks to the idol,"

Milotic looked down, she remembered vividly.

"What you do not know is that not only did she give Cloyster her immunity idol, but she herself voted for Serperior. I must admit doing the same however.

Milotic's head shot up, eyes wide.

"And Altaria, Persian actually asked me to vote for her as well. Her reasoning was flimsy, so I created my own, and played along. During the last elimination ceremony I came to this final conclusion."

Spiritomb turned to Milotic, "Persian has everyone on our team in separate alliances and is trying to control the team's votes."

Milotic was silent. She had trusted Persian, but after hearing this, she just felt like her world had completely shattered.

"Persian's primary target was you all along. However, in order to get to you, she needed to get rid of those around you. That is why your friends are gone. This was carefully orchestrated by Persian, though a little bit of luck definitely played into it."

"I know this is a lot of information to take in. We may have won today, but that does not mean we are safe. She thinks you are broken, and will likely hit whatever weak spots you have. You need to stay strong, but pretend you are not. If you do not have any questions, I shall leave you now.

"Just one," Milotic said, "Why are you telling me all this?"

Spiritomb took a deep breath, "I was never one to follow someone else, less be someone else's pawn. I also have never liked losing. Persian, she used me like a tool. I have been bested by her on two occasions, and my pride cannot let that stand. By telling you this, we now have a common goal, and that is to get revenge. Would you not say so?" Milotic nodded. "I thought as much. Anyways, I have said my piece. Share this information to whomever, but be careful, you never know if she might be listening."

As Spiritomb left, Milotic stood alone in silence.

**000**

**Milotic sat in silence before letting out a long sigh, "I don't know what to think anymore."**

"**Ever since I evolved, I've gotten a lot more attention than before. At first I thought it was great, I was finally being noticed. Back when I was a Feebas, no one would as much as look at me. But now I realize that not all popularity is good popularity."**

"**What should I do? I just don't know…"**

**000**

Roserade approached Lucario as he was leaving the confessional, "Hey, we need to talk."

Lucario gave a sideways glance, "What, are you gonna try to convince me again? Gardevoir did and she was unsuccessful."

"I know," Roserade answered, her voice growing sterner. "She also told me that you now suspect her of betraying the council."

"That is…true in a way. She has information which she is unwilling to reveal. It is not unnatural to suspect her in that case," Roserade grit her teeth.

"Well stop!" Roserade shouted. Lucario looked at her questioningly.

"It is one thing for you to suspect me of lying, that I can take," Roserade said, her voice getting angrier in tone. "I can understand that with what happened with the war council and everything, it's difficult to trust other people, I get it!"

"But if you think that my friend, no, my best friend here had a reason to vote off the guy she liked, then I suggest you get your head out of your ass and look at things differently for a change!" Roserade shouted.

She panted heavily, "That's all I wish to say, good night Lucario."

As Roserade slowly walked away, Lucario looked at her retreating form, then looked up at the sky.

**000**

"**I did lose my temper there, but I don't regret it," Roserade said. "I know I can count on Gardevoir, and she knows she can count on me. My friendship with her comes first before anything else here."**

**000**

"**She doesn't know about my own problems," Lucario said. "Even though it seems harmless, the words on that note is constantly nagging me in the back of my mind."**

"**However, maybe it is time for me be a little more flexible."**

**000**

"Well Lugias, it's been a while since I've seen you here," Latias said. Latios floated nearby with A next to him, who was now out of the tuxedo.

"First I would like to thank A for helping out tonight, give her a round of applause please," Everyone present clapped as A took a small bow.

"Did you guys ever fix Magneton?" Lampent asked.

"It took a couple of extra slaps, but he's mostly back to normal." A said.

"Mostly?" Gardevoir asked.

"He had a couple dents here and there but they're getting buffed out by Audino as we speak," Latias answered. "Now, I hope you remember how this works. If I call your name you get a Poffin. If you don't get a Poffin, you're out of here."

"So the first ones to get a Poffin are Gardevoir, Bisharp and Blitzle."

One by one, the three Pokémon picked up their Poffins from Latios.

"Kingdra and Espeon are also safe tonight."

The two smiled at each other before taking their Poffins.

"Lampent and Rotom, you two are safe as well."

The two ghosts hi-fived before they got bonked the head with their Poffins by a snarling Latios.

"Roserade and Lucario, both of you got no votes so you are safe too."

The two quietly got up and got their Poffins, without so much as glancing at one another.

Latias looked at the three Pokémon left and smirked. "Well, well, well. Look at who we have left."

Stunfisk, Joltik and Spinarak looked at each other nervously.

"One of my least favorite contestants is going home. Will it be the one that gets on my nerves, or one of the two that are the stuff of my nightmares?"

"The first one to receive a Poffin is…Joltik."

The small Pokémon chirped as he went to pick up his Poffin.

"And so, one bug and one nuisance are left. And the one going home is…"

"…Spinarak." Latias stared blankly at the card with the eliminated contestant's name. "What."

"Why didn't you vote for Stunfisk?" she shouted. "He was the first person on your team to get captured!"

"She lost our papers in the challenge and allowed the other team to win," Bisharp stated matter-of-factly. "It was between her and Joltik but Spinarak was more responsible for our loss today."

"Guess I'll be in your hair a little longer," Stunfisk said with a smug smile.

Latias's eye twitched.

"You might want to leave now," Latios whispered to A.

"Are you kidding? This is getting good," A said with a snicker.

Latios shrugged, "If you say so." he handed A some earplugs before putting some in his ears.

"NNNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-"

**000**

Sawk was fast asleep in his bed at the resort. However, he heard a ghostly wail in the distance, causing him to wake up and look around wildly.

"The heck was that?" he mumbled to himself, "Is this place haunted or something?"

**000**

"-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Latias wailed. She took a deep breath before looking at the Pokémon in front of her. Most of them were either toppled over in their seats, covering their ears, or both.

"So, I guess that means I'm eliminated?" Spinarak asked.

Latias sighed, "Yes, I'm sorry Spinarak but your journey ends here. Please back your bags and get ready to leave."

"It was fun while it lasted," Spinarak chirped, "Oh and Joltik…"

Spinarak skittered over to the small spider and gave him a quick peck on the head, "Good luck! Hope you reach the finals!"

He nodded, "Don't worry, I know I still have some problems, but I'll try my best to get over them! I'll make sure to win for us!"

Everyone else present stared in bewilderment at the exchange between the two. Even Latios, Latias and A stared in surprise

"Wait…" Stunfisk began, "Are you two dating?"

"Yeah, actually," Spinarak answered, "Was it not obvious?"

"No! And since when?"

The two arachnids looked at each other, "Well before this whole thing started actually," Joltik answered.

"We've lived near each other since we were kids. My parents weren't home often which caused me to have abandonment issues, but Spinarak would often come by and play with me."

"We decided to start dating a few weeks before we got the letter to come here," Spinarak continued, "We were ecstatic when both of us were accepted."

"But we never really saw you be intimate with one another!" chimed in Roserade, "You two hung out a lot sure, but you two never really kissed, hugged, or heck, even a flirty glance!"

"We were never the touchy-feely type," Joltik explained. He then looked at Spinarak, "Maybe that's why they never noticed."

Everyone else continued to stare in surprise.

**000**

**Stunfisk's eye twitched, "HOW DID I NOT NOTICE?"**

**000**

**Gardevoir sat with a surprised expression on her face, "I thought they were just good friends, not dating!"**

**000**

"**Holy crap," Blitzle whispered, "Joltik scored before anyone else here even touched the ball. JOLTIK!"**

**000**

"**I am quite surprised myself." Kingdra said. "To think that they had that kind of relationship."**

"**Then again, never judge a book by its cover. Or in this case, a duology."**

**000**

Spinarak waved as the boat departed, Joltick waving back from the top of Bisharp's head.

On the boat, Latios shook his head, "So you and Joltik? Can't say I saw that coming."

"Oh that? That was just a story me and him made up to surprise everyone."

Latios briefly lost control of the boat.

"WHAT?" he whirled around, looking at Spinarak, "Are you saying you played all of us like fools?"

Spinarak gave a sunny smile, "Yup! It was worth it to see all of your faces though."

Latios relaxed, "Jeez, you are a tricky bunch, you know that? Wouldn't guess it from your appearance though. Well at least I'm the only one who actually knows you two aren't going out."

"Actually Latios," Spinarak began, "I was lying, me and Joltik are actually dating."

Latios briefly lost control of the boat again.

"SPINARAK!"

Spinarak laughed.

**000**

"Huh, seems like Latios is having trouble steering the boat," Latias commented, "He's never had the problem before. Maybe something's wrong with the boat. Eh whatever, I got a recap to record."

As Latias floated away, Espeon looked at the waving Joltik, "You know, I had a feeling tonight would be unforgettable. Though I'm not sure if this was in the good way or bad way. Too many surprises tonight."

"Agreed," the rest of the Lugias murmured in unison.

* * *

><p>And Spinarak is the next to fall. Shame. Originally, she was going to have a slightly bigger roll, but kinda got shafted to the side as time went on. Hopefully this chapter gave you a good dose of Spinarak and her character, that is before the rewrites.<p>

Also, Deoxys-Attack has appeared! Yay! I communicated with DA about what her character was like, so hopefully I nailed it (Hope you're reading this! Give me a shoutout if you can!). From what I was told, she's a bit of a cocky joker, so hopefully that part of her came through.

As for what Magneton was saying, throw it into Google Translate, that's what I did.

There were also two slightly alternate versions to this chapter. The first was that it was having Joltik and Spinarak say they got together after the first challenge. However, I changed it to them already dating to allow a little backstory for Joltik and the reasoning for his behavior. The second was having Spinarak not tell Latios that two were actually dating and keep that fact a secret. I had her tell anyway since it fit with her "reformed" character and was more entertaining in my mind.

While my updates aren't regular, I feel that I am really starting to get back into writing this story. So spread the word everyone!

**Spinarak: Please review, and make sure to look over your shoulder every now and then. Beware on what lurks around every corner!**

**Next Time: Arrrrrrr, it's a battle to see who is more dominant on the high seas! The cannons are primed and flags are raised! Even the hosts get in on the action with the winning host deciding who walks the plank! Tensions are raised, battle lines are drawn, and a rivalry reaches its climax! This is an episode you will not want to miss!**


End file.
